Independent Question You have 30 minutes to answer the following question Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Parents make the best teachers. Use specific reasons and examples to support your response.

Essential tips for the independent writing section©

Well here you are! You have been in the exam now for a total of 4 hours with only a mere 10 min break. You are exhausted not so much physically, but almost certainly psychologically.Your eyes are beginning to ache and you can no longer feel your legs let alone backside. You have never been so low and you are almost 100% sure you have just wasted $185 on this test; there is no way you are going to be able to get that score you need in order to go to the University of your choice or to get that nice little pay rise that you have already spent on some kind of holiday or even worse a car. However, it's not over yet! You still have one last question and then you can go.

The independent writing section can be one of the trickiest parts of the exam to be successful on; in comparison to the other parts of the test, in which they give you everything you need to answer the questions correctly, in this part you are on your own with only a simple question to guide you through those last desperate moments on the exam. To help you through this part of the exam I have included a short list of tips which will help you get the best out of the independent writing section.

• Whilst the directions are being read, relax and focus yourself on the task at hand.
• If you are unfamiliar with the English based key board or haven’t used one frequently, spend that time familiarizing yourself with the positions of the letters and punctuation; the last thing you need to do is waste time looking for the full stop or comma key.
• Spend a couple of minutes reading through the question. Make sure that you understand what it is asking of you. You would be surprised how many people answer the question incorrectly because they haven’t understood the question correctly.
• Spend the first 5 minutes planning your response. A good plan saves you time whilst writing and helps you avoid digression. Planning your essay will also help ensure that you get the marks you deserve.
• Whilst writing, be yourself. It is more than possible to get top marks by using the grammar and vocabulary that you already know; just use them correctly!!
• Stay away from set structures and vocabulary (such as “facilitate” and “utilize”) that your teachers at high school or university insist on you using. They stick out a mile in your essay and more often than not, you use them incorrectly! Don’t believe me? Well then be my guest, use them in your exam and you will see what I mean!
• Be creative! Your essay will not be marked on how true the information is. If you are stuck for an example, just make one up.
• Don’t try to be an expert! The questions have been designed in such a way that anybody ,no matter from what walk of life or level of English, can answer them. Draw on your own life and experiences and use them to support your ideas.
• You are not expected to write an academic style essay. The purpose of the writing section is to judge how much English you know and how you use it in relation to a basic question.
• Bigger is better! Studies in exams such as the TOEFL have shown that raters are more likely to give higher marks to those who write more despite the mistakes they have made. However, saying this, it is possible to write a little lower than the word limit and still do very very well!
• Make sure you give yourself a little time before you finish to go over and proof read your essay and correct any mistakes that you have made.
• Didn’t have time to complete the conclusion? Don’t worry you won’t lose marks for not doing so! In fact, ETS make many concessions for the independent writing section as they understand that not everybody is familiar with English styled key boards. You won’t lose points for incorrect punctuation (as long as it is not too frequent) and typos (words spelt incorrectly by mistake).
• Familarize yourself with the list of questions which can be found at the link below. They are classic examples of the questions that appear on the exam.

http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/TOEFL/pdf/989563wt.pdf