TOEFL Writing Tasks Learning to express yourself clearly, professionally, and fluently in your writing is a vital component of the TOEFL.The TOEFL exam requires you to demonstrate your ability to write in English in two ways.

The first task, the integrated writing portion, requires you to read a passage on an academic subject, listen to a lecture on the same topic, and write an essay that discusses the relationship between the two. You'll have three minutes to read and 20 minutes to respond.

The second task, the independent writing portion of the TOEFL presents you with a question or statement and asks you to compare and contrast the ideas, express and support an opinion, persuade your reader, or explain your preference for something.

The TOEFL Speaking section requires learners to not only be able to express themselves orally in English but to tie together multiple language skills: reading, listening, and speaking.

You will need to develop a response to two independent speaking tasks; one which asks you about a familiar topic and one requires you to express your preference for something. For each of these you will need to develop an explanation or justification for your preference/choice.

There are also four integrated speaking tasks. Integrated means that you will read and/or listen to a passage and then speak about what you have read and heard.