TOEFL Writing Task 3 – Academic Discussion

Writing Task 3 format, timing and word count

In this last lecture of our course, we will talk about Writing Task 3, the academic discussion. This is the only task in the new TOEFL format that was carried over from the previous, 2025 format of the TOEFL. Let's dive into the details. In this task, you're participating in a discussion hosted by your professor. You will see two messages from two other participants, usually your groupmates or other students. You have to respond to their ideas and form your own opinion.

You have 10 minutes to write your response, and you should aim to write at least 100 words. This is actually a requirement from ETS: your response should be no shorter than 100 words. The best responses are from 120 to 140 words, so it's best to aim for at least 130 words in this task.

How the academic discussion is scored

What about the scoring of the academic discussion? If your position is clear, you strongly support one of your classmates' positions with specific examples, and you have a clear logical flow and accurate language, you'll get 5 points. If your position and support are mostly clear, though with minor lapses in detail and language, you'll get 4 points.

If you have a basic position with limited and general support and noticeable errors or disorganization, you'll get 3 points. You'll get 2 points if your position is unclear, your support is insufficient, and you make frequent mistakes.

Strategy 1: Use a logical structure

Let's go to strategies. Strategy number one in this task is to use a logical structure. How should you structure your response? First of all, you have to state your position: whether you agree or disagree with one of the students. Then you have to state supporting reasons, preferably with examples. And then you make a conclusion based on the examples you used in your post.

For example, you can start with "I disagree with John's view because..." Then you can go to the reasons and say "I contend that...", "I maintain that...", or "From my perspective, something is true" or "this is not true." For the summary, you can say "As a result," "To sum up," or "That's why."

It's important to mention that in this task you don't have to add a summary; you don't need a separate paragraph dedicated to it. The most important part is to have a logical structure in your response, where you actually explain your position and state whether you agree or disagree with the other speakers. You have to ensure that your answer fully expresses your opinion and provides substantial support, not just a claim.

Strategy 2: Use concrete examples

That is what the next strategy is about: you have to use concrete examples. It's better not to use statements like "Technology helps education," period. That's not right. You have to develop your ideas and use examples. Sometimes they can be made-up cases or situations that never happened, but you have to support your opinion. This is the point of this task.

For example, you can say: "When my friend used an online science program, she completed virtual chemistry experiments at her own pace and understood the concepts better than in a crowded lab." "Reading helps people learn" is too general a point. It's better to say: "For instance, when I began reading short news articles in English every night, my vocabulary grew quickly, and I became more confident during class discussions."

Strategy 3: Use and vary transitions

Strategy number 3: use transitions. We have already talked about this strategy many times, and transitions are a big part of a properly structured response. If you follow the main strategy of keeping a short introduction stating whether you agree or disagree with one of the speakers and then following up with reasons, you will always use transitions. And it is very natural, because you have a picture of the structure of your response in your mind. You understand that you have to write an introduction, then use some linking words to jump into the reasons, and then proceed to the summary. All these parts are always linked by transitions.

So you can use "however," "nevertheless," "consequently," or "in contrast." It's recommended to vary transitions and avoid repeating the same one. For example, you can say "Nevertheless, I maintain that the benefits of mandatory service outweigh these concerns" or "However, I still think..." and then proceed with some reasons. It's important to vary your transitions because your response is relatively short in this task. If you repeat linking words, it will be obvious, because your paragraphs will often start with the same linking words, and this will lower your score.

Sample question: how can a company have a positive impact on society?

Now let's go to an actual example of this task. Let's say your professor is hosting a business discussion. He says: "Next week, we are going to spend a lot of time in class discussing the positive and negative ways in which companies affect the world around us. Before we start talking about that in class, I want to hear what you think about the topic. So here is a question for the message board: In your opinion, what is the best way for a company to have a positive impact on society?"

Now you have a minute to check out the arguments and think about your own opinion. You can decide whether you agree with Jessica or Mike, and you can think about reasons to support your opinion. You don't need to write now, but you have to come up with a concept of what you're going to write in the time provided for this task. And then we're going to proceed to the sample answer.

Sample answer and analysis

OK, great. Now let's proceed to the sample answer: "I strongly agree with John's idea that charitable donations are a way to quickly address the serious problems that we are facing. I would add that some of these problems, like homelessness and food insecurity, are more serious than they have ever been, so companies certainly have a role to play. Even a small donation can save someone's life. Sara raised the relevant point that philanthropy might help businesses attract new customers, but she didn't mention that nowadays people's purchasing decisions are mostly based on cost. Many people prefer to buy the cheapest products available, even if they are sold by unethical companies. Because the economy is in such rough shape, they just can't afford to think about a business's reputation when they are shopping."

As you can see, in this sample response we used an introduction, and the introduction states that you agree with John's idea that charitable donations are a way to quickly address the serious problems we are facing. Next, after you state your opinion, you also give your own reasons. In this case, it is stated: "I would add that some of these problems, like homelessness and food insecurity, are more serious than they have ever been." And that's why companies certainly have a role to play in this problem.

Then you comment on Sara's opinion. You say that Sara raised the relevant point that philanthropy might help businesses attract new customers, but she didn't mention that nowadays people's purchasing decisions are mostly based on cost. So you give your opinion on Sara's message, and then you provide reasons why you think her opinion is incorrect or incomplete. You say that the economy is in such rough shape that most people cannot afford to think about a business's reputation, and they just purchase products based on cost.

As you can see, there is no direct summary of your opinion. In your response, you can write a summary, or you can just comment on the messages from other students. But the most important thing is to follow an accurate structure, to logically present your attitude to the other students' messages, and to provide your own opinion with supporting reasons why you think this is true, or why you think Sara is wrong or John is right in this case.

As you can see, the word count for this answer is 127, which is the recommended length for your response. As I said, it's better to write at least 120 words to get the full score in this task.

Final advice: practice with the strategies and templates

So this was the last task in our course. After this block, as after every other block, you'll get practice sets of questions. So use the strategies provided, and use the templates that you'll see in the presentations in this course to practice. It was a pleasure for me to tell you about the new format of the TOEFL, and I hope that all the materials provided in this lecture will help you get the highest score possible on your exam and achieve your goals.