TOEFL Integrated Writing: compare sources accurately

The task is a relationship

Integrated Writing is not an opinion essay. Your job is to explain how the lecture relates to the reading, usually by challenging, weakening or qualifying its main points. Accuracy of source use matters more than decorative vocabulary.

Build a two-column note map. Put each reading claim on the left and the matching lecture response on the right. If a lecture example does not connect to a reading claim, check whether you have misunderstood its purpose.

Draft in matched pairs

• Introduction: identify the reading's position and the lecture's overall response.
• Body 1: first reading claim, then the corresponding lecture counterpoint and evidence.
• Body 2 and 3: repeat the same matched structure for the remaining points.
• Do not add your own opinion or outside examples.

Use reporting language precisely

Choose verbs that show the relationship: claims, suggests, questions, contradicts, illustrates or concedes. Avoid writing that the lecturer ‘says the same thing’ when the lecture actually accepts one fact but rejects its conclusion.

Paraphrase where you can, but preserve technical terms that have no accurate synonym. Meaning is more important than avoiding every repeated word.

A five-minute revision

• Check that every body paragraph contains both sources.
• Check names, quantities and cause-and-effect relationships against your notes.
• Repair unclear pronouns such as ‘this’ when the reference is uncertain.
• Correct sentence boundaries and verb forms before changing vocabulary.