TWE Editor’s Guide

INTRODUCTION

The TWE in TOEFL

The TWE Team

General goals

Specific services

Clients

Classes

TWE feedback

What is feedback?

What is effective feedback?

How do we make our feedback useful?

How do we make our feedback usable?

How do we ensure our students will use

the feedback we give them?

Scoring essays

Description

Procedures

Guidelines

Editing essays

Description

Procedures

Guidelines

APPENDIX : COMMON MISTAKES / CHEKCLIST / SCORING GUIDE

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Introduction

Welcome to the TWE Team of MyTrans.com. Our work entails focus on both details and a wider perspective of evaluating essays. This guide outlines our main tasks and tools in giving feedback to members of our TWE classes. In future drafts, this guide will include more comprehensive guidelines and practical tips using examples from previous lessons. We will appreciate your comments and suggestions.

This guide was written for:

  • newly hired TWE editors
  • TWE editors who have been with the company for a longer period
  • other personnel recruited for related editing tasks

This guide aims to:

  • discuss the responsibilities of a TWE editors (individually and as a team)
  • outline general feedback goals
  • describe specific feedback tasks and tools
  • suggest practical tips for giving feedback
  • recommend printed and online references

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The TWE in TOEFL

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is a standardized test that evaluates the English proficiency of people whose native language is not English. Varying scores are required as admission requirement to American universities and other institutions where English is the medium of instruction or communication. The Test of Written English (TWE) is the last of TOEFL’s four sections.

SECTION / TYPE OF TEST / NO. OF QUESTIONS / TIME LIMIT
1. Listening / -- short conversations
-- 6 to 9 lectures and long
conversations / 30-50 / 40-60 minutes
2. Structure / sentence completion and error identification / 20-25 / 15-20 minutes
3. Reading / 4 to 5 passages / 44-60 / 70-90 minutes
4. Writing (TWE) / 1 written essay / 1 writing topic / 30 minutes

The Princeton’s Review TOEFL guide explains the scoring system:

“The highest score on the new TOEFL CBT [computer-based training] is 300. Each of the three sections is given a scaled score from 1 to 30: Listening (1-30), Structure and Writing (1-30), and Reading (1-30). [The] final score is the combined, scaled scores from each section, multiplied by 10. Each section is each worth one-third of the total score.” (Cracking the TOEFL CBT, 2000 Edition, by George S. Miller, 1999)

The Writing or TWE score is combined with the Grammar section score for a final Structure score:

½ Grammar section score + ½ Writing section score = Final Structure score.

Thus, the TWE has become a critical factor in determining a nonnative English speaker’s

chances of being admitted to universities that require TOEFL scores.

The official TOEFL Web site lists the specific skills that the TWE aims to measure. The

essay will demonstrate the examinee’s ability to:

  • generate and organize ideas
  • support those ideas with examples or evidence
  • compose in standard written English [i.e, American English] in response to an
  • assigned topic.

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The TWE Team

General goals

The TWE team aims to:

  • offer personalized feedback effectively and promptly (within 48 hours)
  • help clients get high scores on their essays based on TWE standards
  • improve their writing skills, especially in grammar and organization

Specific services

We achieve those goals by:

  • scoring essays
  • editing essays and explaining corrections
  • writing sample paragraphs and essays
  • assisting other teams in providing quality services to their clients (e.g.,

freewriting, business writing, technical editing)

  • other tasks required by the company

Clients

Ranging from ages 20 and above, most of our clients are educated Koreans. Many are still in high school. Others, however, have earned undergraduate and advanced (i.e., M.A. and Ph.D) degrees. Their objectives include:

  • admission to U.S. universities and other educational institutions abroad that

require TOEFL scores

  • admission to Korean universities that require TOEFL scores or similar proof of

English proficiency

  • increased potential for employment in an increasingly competitive domestic job

market

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TWE feedback

At MyTrans.com, and especially for the TWE Team, feedback is our business and

mission. From the scores we give to the corrections we make, everything we do for our

clients is a form of feedback. As much as we can, we also get feedback from clients so

we can improve our services to them. Thus, their feedback to us helps us improve our

feedback to them, so they can continue honing their writing skills. It’s a communication

cycle or feedback loop that benefits both the giver and the receiver of feedback.

What is feedback?

Jane Sherman (in Feedback, Oxford University Press, 1997) gives two definitions:

  • Feedback is information about something that you have done or made which

tells you how good or successful it is. (Oxford Wordpower Dictionary)

  • Feedback is a response or reaction from another person to something you do,

that can be used to help you assess and improve on your performance in the

future.

Both definitions apply to our tasks as TWE editors. The second one emphasizes two of our goals:

  • We assess our clients’ essays by giving scores.
  • We improve their performance (or writing ability) by correcting mistakes,

explaining corrections, and providing models of good sentences and paragraphs.

What is effective feedback?

By attaining these objectives, we make sure that our feedback is effective. But what

makes feedback “effective”? According to Ms. Sherman, we need two conditions:

  • The feedback must be useful and usable.
  • The students (or clients) must use it.

According to the Oxford ESL Dictionary,useful means helpful or producing good results. In the context of our TWE services, usability refers to the ease and speed of feedback delivery. Feedback may be sent and received online (Web design), via e-mail (MS Word format), or offline (page layout).

How do we make our feedback useful?

  • We give comprehensive feedback.

Overall scores

Corrections (editing and proofreading)

Explanations for corrections

Suggestions for other or better options (in brackets) for words / phrases

Sample (rewritten) paragraphs / sentences

Assessment ratings and summaries (content, organization, grammar)

Replies to clients’ questions

  • We give feedback that targets TWE requirements.

We use the official TOEFL TWE Scoring Guide.

We use our in-house checklist of guide questions that clarify the Scoring Guide criteria.

We focus on evaluation areas (e.g., addressing the topic) crucial in the actual TWE.

We assign topics taken from the official TOEFL TWE list.

  • We give feedback that motivates students to improve their writing skills.

Our feedback is authoritative.

Our feedback is personalized.

Our feedback balances positive and negative comments.

Our feedback language and content target Korean clients’ English-proficiency levels.

Our feedback encourages students to ask questions.

How do we make our feedback usable?

  • Our offline and/or e-mail versions follow a reader-friendly format. We show our

editing marks and comments with MS-Word Tools’ Track Changes colors and

symbols.

  • Our online design allows quick exchange of original and edited versions.

Neat layout of text, graphics, and command buttons ensures readability.

  • Our current feedback lead time is 24 hours. When we go online, special Web

site features will speed up and enhance the quality of our services.

  • Our ongoing research updates us on feedback techniques (including peer

evaluation, pretests and posttests, and consultants’ inputs) which we can adopt

to meet our clients’ needs.

How do we ensure our students will use the feedback we give them?

There is no guarantee. We can only motivate them to ask us questions. We can keep stressing areas where they need improvement.

One ESL teacher noted that the aim of feedback in the writing process is “fairly short-term.” Teachers and editors “help learners improve their drafts in order to end up with a final piece of work which is better than those first attempts.” (“Using Written Teacher Feedback in EFL Composition Classes” by James Muncie, ELT Journal 54:1, January 2000)

In our TWE classes, however, the goal of revision is not included. We do not require students to revise their essays incorporating the corrections and suggestions we give. This gap in the feedback cycle means:

  • We don’t really know whether the clients understood our feedback (and if they

did, whether they found it useful).

  • We can’t stress one basic principle of writing: i.e., “writing is rewriting”.
  • We can only keep track of clients’ learning based on similar errors and

corrections in their next lessons.

These are issues that deserve further study. The TWE Team needs to develop techniques (or even offer new services) to fill this feedback gap.

We also need to view such limitations, however, in the context of our specific services. We give students practice for TWE, which is a “one-shot deal” (unless there’s a need to retake it). Thus, each lesson we give, like the actual TWE, does not require essay revisions.

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Scoring essays

Description

As TWE editor, you will give two types of scores:

  • a numeral from 6 to 1 (from excellent to poor) in the “Your Score” box of the

feedback page: 6.0, 5.5, 5.0, 4.5, 4.0, 3.5, 3.0, 2.5, 2.0, 1.5, 1.0.

This is the score for the essay based on the official TWE Scoring Guide (see

Appendix C).

  • letters for assessment ratings: E = Excellent; VG = Very good; G = good; F =

Fair; P = Poor

These letters evaluate the following specific criteria:

Content

Thesis Clarity

Relevance of details

Conclusion

Organization

General Structure

Transition

Coherence & Conciseness

Grammar & Mechanics

Subject-Verb Agreement

Consistency of Tenses

Antecedent-Pronoun Agreement

Mechanics (spelling, punctuation, and capitalization)

For these ratings, refer to the TWE Editor’s Checklist of Guide Questions.

Procedures

  1. Review the six “anchor” essays, which show the qualities that merit scores from

1 to 6

  1. Read the client’s essay.
  2. Give a score based on the official TWE Scoring Guide.
  3. Give assessment ratings based on the TWE Editor’s Checklist of Guide

Questions.

Guidelines

  1. Be objective. You do not have to agree or disagree with the client’s opinions.

Your job is to evaluate how he or she explains those opinions in English

sentences and paragraphs.

  1. Be consistent. The strengths and weaknesses found in an essay to which you

give a score of 4, for example, should be similar to the strengths and weaknesses

in other essays with the same score.

  1. Evaluate an essay relative to other essays. You don’t or can’t evaluate in a

vacuum. An essay that for you deserves a 3 must exhibit qualities superior to

those in essays scored lower.

  1. Avoid giving wide-ranging scores for one student, but be open to factors that

can cause erratic or inconsistent performance. Over a period of consecutive

lessons, a client may get widely different scores. In Lesson 6, for example, he

may get a 4.5; in Lesson 7, a 3.5; and in Lesson 8, a 3. The scores might reflect

factors other than the individual’s proficiency level. (Did he give the lesson

enough time? Was he familiar with the topic? Was he stressed out when he

wrote the essay?)

  1. Double-check, however, if the fluctuations in scores reflect the inconsistent

quality of the client’s essays and not your inconsistent (or subjective)

interpretations of the scoring guide.

  1. Avoid giving very high scores (such as 6 or 5) for the first few lessons or essays.

Unless the essay is exceptional, leave room for sustained motivation. Indicate

progress by giving increasing scores.

  1. Actively participate in meetings with the TWE team leader and other members.

Peer evaluation and other quality-upgrading measures can yield better

techniques to maintain consistency and accuracy.

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Editing essays

Description

You will perform four main editing tasks:

  • correcting faulty grammar
  • improving weaknesses in organization
  • explaining corrections
  • rewriting sentences and paragraphs

Procedures

  1. Review the List of Common Mistakes in TWE Essays. This will

help you in analyzing and correcting specific writing problems.

  1. For feedback offline or via e-mail, use appropriate settings in MS-Word Tools’

Track Changes.

  1. Edit line by line (or sentence by sentence). Then go over the essay once more to

assess the general structure (or the logical flow from paragraph to paragraph).

  1. For comments, use footnote style. Put numerals at the end of sentences to which

the comments refer.

  1. Leave a space between each edited paragraph and the paragraph or sentence

with your editorial comments.

  1. Enclose brief comments (short phrases) in brackets or parentheses. Insert these

where they will be most useful and readable in the edited paragraphs.

Guidelines:

  1. Edit primarily for grammar. Word choice is also important. But don’t pay too

much attention to finer distinctions in style or expression. Your concerns are clear

communication and grammatical sentences.

  1. You do not have to explain every correction. Discretion is essential. Corrections

of typographical errors, for example, (unless the errors recur in an essay) do not

deserve explanations. Focus on serious or repetitive flaws that obscure the

meaning or impair the syntax.

  1. Balance comments on content and those on grammar.
  2. Be specific. It’s not enough to say that an introduction is “good” or the word is

“inappropriate.” Point out exactly what is good or give examples of more

appropriate alternatives.

  1. Be straightforward. Like a teacher, an editor instructs with authority and

confidence. Sometimes a word or phrase is not just inappropriate; it is simply

wrong. Write imperative sentences (“Replace this with that,” “Delete the

unnecessary word,” “Keep tenses consistent”).

  1. Suggest revisions. To illustrate grammar or writing principles, sometimes the best way is to rewrite (or rephrase) the entire sentence or paragraph. When you give a sample revised paragraph, incorporate ideas and sentences from the original. That will help the client draw the connections more easily between the flawed version and the alternative.
  2. Edit and proofread your own work. While nothing is perfect, show respect for the

client and yourself by ensuring that your own sentences are free (to the best of your

ability) of typographical errors, grammatical lapses, and other writing oversights.

  1. Fill out the TWE Student Memo. This feedback tool will help you

and other editors keep track of each student’s (or client’s) progress. The memo is a

quick glance at the individual’s previous scores and pertinent writing weaknesses

or strengths. It will also guide us in further upgrading our services to the student

and other clients in future classes.

  1. Check the list of (printed and online) References for further information on

Asiaherald.com’s services, grammar and writing guides, and feedback articles.

Common Mistakes in TWE Essays

1 CONTENT

1.1topic not addressed (thesis not stated in the introduction)

1.2 thesis stated but vague

1.3 insufficient details

1.4 irrelevant details

1.5 details not specific enough

1.6 conclusion does not rephrase thesis

1.7 conclusion does not summarize details

2 ORGANIZATION

2.1missing element in structure (i.e., introduction, body, and/or conclusion)

2.2weak structure (lack of logical development from introduction to body to conclusion)

2.3essay too short

2.4paragraph too short

2.5unclear paragraph division (no indenting)

2.6sentences not parallel

2.7redundant word, phrase, or sentence

2.8awkward word order

2.9faulty syntax (sentence structure)

2.10 no or insufficient syntactic variety (sentence patterns)

2.11 no or insufficient transition words and phrases

2.12 inappropriate transition words and phrases

2.13 sentence fragments

2.14 sentence run-ons

2.15 lack of unity (coherence) among sentences in one paragraph

2.16 lack of unity among paragraphs in the essay

3GRAMMAR AND MECHANICS

3.1 awkward or inappropriate word or phrase

3.2 verb does not agree with subject (in number)

3.3 no antecedent for pronoun

3.4 vague or indefinite antecedent for pronoun

3.5 pronoun does not agree with antecedent (in number, gender, or person)

3.6 no article

3.7 inappropriate article

3.8 no preposition

3.9 inappropriate preposition

3.10 inappropriate tense

3.11 inconsistent tense

3.12 misspelling

3.13 word or proper noun not capitalized

3.14 common noun capitalized

A Checklist for TWE Editors

1 CONTENT

(topic)1.1 Does the essay address the topic (or answer the question)?

(introduction)1.2 Does the introduction state clearly the thesis (main opinion)?

(body)1.3 Does the body give logical reasons and specific examples to support the

thesis?

(conclusion)1.4 Does the conclusion rephrase the thesis and summarize the supporting

details?

(word choice)1.5 Do the words and phrases correctly express the ideas and avoid

redundancy?

(vocabulary range) 1.6 Does the essay use a variety of words, phrases, and idioms to express these

ideas?

(overall clarity)1.7 Does the essay clearly and consistently convey the writer’s message?

2 ORGANIZATION

General Structure

(essay length)2.1 Does the essay have at least 4 paragraphs ([a] introduction, [b] body 1:

supporting details, [c] body 2: more supporting details, and [d] conclusion)?

(paragraph length)2.2 Does each paragraph have at least four sentences? (Note: In some cases, the

introduction and conclusion may have only two sentences each.)

(paragraph indenting)2.3 Is each paragraph indented to show divisions or shifts in thoughts?

(parallel sentences)2.4 Are the sentences written in parallel structure?

(word/phrase order)2.5 Are words and phrases placed where they express the intended meaning?

(syntactic variety)2.6 Does the essay show a variety of sentence patterns?

Transition

(presence of transitions)2.6 Do transition words and phrases ease the flow of ideas?

(proper transitions)2.7 Do these transition words and phrases correctly express ideas in context?

Coherence & Conciseness

(relevance)2.8 Does the essay include only relevant details (reasons, examples)?

(sentence coherence2.9 Does each sentence completely and clearly express only one idea (no

& conciseness) sentence fragments, no sentence run-ons)?