WRITING RUBRICS
INTRODUCTION
The responses to all Writing tasks are sent to ETS's Online
Scoring Network. Each task is rated by two human raters on a
score scale of 0 to 5 according to the standards (rubrics). If
the two ratings differ by more than one point, a third rater
evaluates the response and resolves the score. The average of the
scores on the two writing tasks is converted to a scaled score of
0 to 30. The response to the integrated writing task is scored on
the quality of writing (organization, appropriate and precise use
of grammar and vocabulary) and the completeness and accuracy of
the content. The independent writing essay is scored on the
overall quality of the writing: development, organization, and
appropriate and precise use of grammar and vocabulary.
INTEGRATED WRITING RUBRICS
5 A response at this level
- successfully selects the important information from the lecture and coherently and accurately presents this information in relation to the relevant information presented in the reading
- is well organized
- contains occasional language errors that do not result in inaccurate or imprecise presentation of content or connections
- is generally good in selecting the important information from the lecture and in coherently and accurately presenting this information in relation to the relevant information in the reading
- may have minor omission, inaccuracy, vagueness, or imprecision of some content from the lecture or in connection to points made in the reading
- has more frequent or noticeable minor language errors, as long as such usage and grammatical structures do not result in anything more than an occasional lapse of clarity or in the connection of ideas
- contains some important information from the lecture
- conveys only vague, global, unclear, or somewhat imprecise connection of the points made in the lecture to points made in the reading
- may omit one major key point made in the lecture
- may have incomplete, inaccurate, or imprecise descriptions of some key points made in the lecture or the reading, or connections between the two
- has errors of usage and/or grammar that may be more frequent or may result in noticeably vague expressions or obscured meanings in conveying ideas and connections
- contains some relevant information from the lecture
- significantly misrepresents or completely omits the overall connection between the lecture and the reading
- significantly omits or significantly misrepresents important points made in the lecture
- contains language errors or expressions that largely obscure connections or meaning at key junctures, or that would likely obscure understanding of key ideas for a reader not already familiar with the reading and the lecture
- provides little or no meaningful or relevant coherent content from the lecture
- has such a low language level that it is difficult to derive meaning
- merely copies sentences from the reading
- rejects the topic or is otherwise not connected to the topic
- is written in a foreign language
- consists of keystroke characters
- is blank
INDEPENDENT WRITING RUBRICS
5 An essay at this level
- effectively addresses the topic and task
- is well organized and well developed, using clearly appropriate explanations, exemplifications, and/or details
- displays unity, progression, and coherence
- displays consistent facility in the use of language, demonstrating syntactic variety, appropriate word choice, and idiomaticity, though it may have minor lexical or grammatical errors
- addresses the topic and task well, though some points may not be fully elaborated
- is generally well organized and well developed, using appropriate and sufficient explanations, exemplifications, and/or details
- displays unity, progression, and coherence, though it may contain occasional redundancy, digression, or unclear connections
- displays facility in the use of language, demonstrating syntactic variety and range of vocabulary, though it will probably have occasional noticeable minor errors in structure, word form, or use of idiomatic language that do not interfere with meaning
- addresses the topic and task using somewhat developed explanations, exemplifications, and/or details
- displays unity, progression, and coherence, though connection of ideas may be occasionally obscured
- may demonstrate inconsistent facility in sentence formation and word choice that may result in lack of clarity and occasionally obscure meaning
- may display accurate but limited range of syntactic structures and vocabulary
- reveals limited development in response to the topic and task
- has inadequate organization or connection of ideas
- is flawed by inappropriate or insufficient exemplifications, explanations, or details to support or illustrate generalizations in response to the task
- demonstrates a noticeably inappropriate choice of words or word forms
- contains an accumulation of errors in sentence structure and/or usage
- is flawed by serious disorganization or underdevelopment
- has little or no detail, or irrelevant specifics, or questionable responsiveness to the task
- contains serious and frequent errors in sentence structure or usage
- merely copies words from the topic
- rejects the topic
- is not connected to the topic
- is written in a foreign language
- consists of keystroke characters
- is blank
TWE / CBT TOEFL TEST WRITING
RUBRICS
Each essay is assigned a rating of 0 to 6 by two independent
readers. The average of these two ratings is reported on a raw
score scale in 0.5 increments (6.0, 5.5, 5.0, 4.5, 4.0, 3.5, 3.0,
2.5, 2.0, 1.5, 1.0, 0.5, 0.0). If there is a discrepancy of more
than one point between the first two readers, a third person
reads the essay independently and the three ratings are averaged.
The final essay rating accounts for approximately 50 percent of
the composite Structure/Writing score of the computer-based
TOEFL; it is reported separately on the score report for
informational purposes only. In the paper-based TOEFL, the score
is reported separately from the TOEFL score. It is not included
in the computation of the total TOEFL score and does not affect
your score on the multiple-choice TOEFL.
6 An essay at this level
- effectively addresses the writing task
- is well organized and well developed
- uses clearly appropriate details to support a thesis or illustrate ideas
- displays consistent facility in the use of language
- demonstrates syntactic variety and appropriate word choice, though it may have occasional errors
- may address some parts of the task more effectively than others
- is generally well organized and developed
- uses details to support a thesis or illustrate an idea
- displays facility in the use of the language
- demonstrates some syntactic variety and range of vocabulary, though it will probably have occasional errors
- addresses the writing topic adequately but may slight parts of the task
- is adequately organized and developed
- uses some details to support a thesis or illustrate an idea
- displays adequate but possibly inconsistent facility with syntax and usage
- may contain some errors that occasionally obscure meaning
- is adequately organized and developed
- uses inappropriate or insufficient details to support or illustrate generalizations
- has a noticeably inappropriate choice of words or word forms
- contains many errors in sentence structure and/or usage
- is seriously disorganized or underdeveloped
- uses little or no detail, or irrelevant specifics
- contains serious and frequent errors in sentence structure or usage
- has serious problems with focus
- may be incoherent
- may be undeveloped
- may contain severe and persistent writing errors
- contains no response
- merely copies the topic
- is off topic
- is written in a foreign language
- consists only of keystroke characters