TOEFL Independent writing question

According to a recent survey, the questions are usually about education (40% of the
time), work (30% of the time) and lifestyle (30% of the time).
There is no minimum or maximum word count, but I think you should write between 380
and 400 words.

Styles of Questions
Agree/Disagree Style (65% of the time)
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Children should be required to
follow strict rules set by their parents. Use specific reasons and examples to support
your answer. Do not use memorized examples.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Students do not respect their
teachers as much as they did in the past. Use specific reasons and examples to support
your answer.

Multiple Choice Style (15% of the time)

Which of the following values do you think is best to teach to a young child?
being honest
being helpful
being patient
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Preference Style (15 % of the time)

There are many different styles of classes at schools nowadays. Some students prefer
classes where they interact with their teacher and with other students in debates and
group assignments. Others prefer classes where they just listen to their teacher speak.
Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Make
sure to use your own words. Do not use memorized examples.

How to Structure the Essay (An Essay Template)

To show you how to write the essay, I will use the sample agree/disagree question
about respecting teachers.
Writing an Introduction
The first part of your TOEFL independent essay must always be the introductory
paragraph. Follow this template:
Sentence One: The “Hook”
This is an interesting sentence that introduces the general theme or topic of the essay.
I recommend stating something that we should do in our life: “It is critically important
that we VERB…”
Sentence Two: The Main Point
This is your main argument and direct answer to the question. Start with “Personally, I
believe…”
Sentence Three: The Transition
Just use: “I feel this way for two reasons, which I will explore in the following essay.”
If you follow this template, your introduction will look something like this:
It is critically important that students learn as much as possible and thrive in all of their
classes. Personally, I believe that young people do not have as much respect for their
teachers as in the past. I feel this way for two reasons, which I will explore in the
following essay.
There are a few things to keep in mind as you write your introduction:
Don’t copy and paste from the prompt.

Writing Body Paragraphs

Next you must write two body paragraphs that support your thesis. Use this template for
your first body paragraph:
Sentence One: A Topic Sentence
This summarizes your first supporting reason. Begin with “To begin with…”.
Sentences Two and Three: The Explanation
Explain what you mean, without talking directly about a personal experience.
Sentence Four: The Transition
Just use: “My personal experience is a compelling illustration of this.”
Sentence Six to End: The Personal Example
An example from your life that illustrates this argument. It should make up about 60% of
the body paragraph.
This leads to a paragraph like this:
To begin with, there are many more ways for students to learn nowadays, which means
they are less reliant on teachers than in the past. A few years ago, children could
only acquire new skills by going to school and attending classes, so they respected their
teachers a lot. In contrast, now they can easily use technology to learn
independently. My personal experience is a compelling illustration of this. For the past
five years, I have studied English almost every single day. Although my native language
is Korean, I am able to easily communicate in English without feeling any anxiety. I
expand my vocabulary by using a smartphone application that teaches me new phrases
twice per day, and I practice pronunciation by watching videos on the
Internet. Consequently, I feel like old-fashioned classes with a teacher are not as
important as they used to be. If I had tried to become proficient in English twenty years
ago, I would have depended on a teacher and respected her a lot.

Use a similar template for your second body paragraph:

Sentence One: A Topic Sentence
This summarizes your second supporting reason. Begin with “Furthermore…”.
Sentences Two and Three: The Explanation
Explain what you mean, without talking directly about personal experience. Shorten if
necessary.
Sentence Four: The Transition
Just use: “For instance,”
Sentences Five to End: The Personal Example
An example from your life that illustrates this argument. Again, it should make up about
60% of the paragraph.
That would result in a paragraph looking something like this:
Furthermore, teachers are no longer strict, which means children don’t fear them at
all. If teachers fail to discipline students when they misbehave, they do not feel
obligated to respect them. This problem is very common nowadays. For instance, a few
months ago my little brother used profanity when addressing his math teacher.
Surprisingly, he wasn’t punished for this terrible behavior. His teacher was afraid of how
our parents would react to my brother being punished, so he just ignored it. Since then,
my brother hasn’t respected that teacher at all, and is often quite rude. In addition, a lot
of his classmates have picked up on the fact that they can get away with impolite
behavior and have started acting up as well. Based on this experience, I strongly feel
that young people do not respect educators like they did in the past.
There are a few things to keep in mind as you write the body of your TOEFL
independent essay:
Use a mix of simple, compound and complex sentences.
Emphasize the examples. They are easy to write, so they should make up about 60%
(or more) of each body paragraph.
Avoid very short sentences (less than seven words) and very long sentences (more
than 60 words)
Don’t start sentences with coordinating conjunctions
Use a variety of discourse phrases (like: therefore, moreover, as a result, in addition)
Write about 150 words in each body paragraph.

Writing a Conclusion
Conclusions are easy. You just need to repeat your thesis and your two supporting
arguments. Try this short template:
Sentence One: Restate the Thesis
Paraphrase your thesis. Begin with “In conclusion, I strongly feel that…”.
Sentence Two: Restate the Two Reasons
Just use: “This is because ______, and _______.”
That will produce something that looks like this:
In conclusion, I strongly feel that children do not respect their teachers as much as they
used to. This is because teachers are not as essential as they were a few decades
ago, and they are too nervous to enforce rules.
Here’s what you should keep in mind:
Paraphrase yourself. Don’t copy and paste from either the thesis or the topic sentences
when you restate your ideas
Don’t introduce new arguments in the conclusion

Final Thoughts
That’s how you write a strong TOEFL independent essay. There are a few points that
are worth mentioning here, of course:
There is no word limit.
You can ignore the opposite argument, and you can ignore the other options in a
multiple-choice prompt.
The template works for all of the styles
You will not get punished for using the template.