Professors on TV: a TOEFL Integrated Essay

The following TOEFL Integrated Essay was written in class during a writing exercise. For TOEFL Integrated Essays, test takers are instructed to read a short passage for 3 minutes, after which they listen to part of a lecture on the same topic. They are then asked to answer a question in the form of an essay and are given 20 minutes to plan, write, and edit their essays.

This essay was in response to the writing task in Test 2 of "The Official Guide to the TOEFL Test, Fourth Edition" by ETS. This was written by the instructor during the 20-minute activity.

WRITING TASK: Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they oppose specific points made in the reading passage.

ESSAY:
This set of materials discusses the tendency of some professors to appear on tv. While the reading passage examines the advantages of such pursuits, the listening focuses on the negative effects and consequences that result when professors spend time being on television.

One reason the reading mentions is an advantage to appearing on television is the professor’s ability to reach a wider audience, instead of the smaller university community. The listening, on the other hand, argues that appearing on tv labels the professor as not a serious scholar or educator among his or her colleagues. He is looked upon as an entertainer, not an educator. This results in the professor not being invited to important academic functions or not receiving necessary grants for research.

Another reason the listening maintains is a disadvantage to appearing on tv is that doing so takes precious time from the professor’s work at the university. Instead of doing needed research or meeting with students, the professor has to prepare for his tv appearance and take time rehearsing, traveling, and getting made up on set. This is a disadvantage that contrasts the benefit that reading passage mentions about the professor’s appearance improving his own reputation, as well as the  university's.

The third negative impact of appearing on tv, according to the listening, is the impact on the public. In contrast to the reading, which mentions that the public benefits from the professor’s expertise, the listening counters this idea by explaining that tv networks are usually not interested in in-depth information by the professor. Instead, tv shows are more interested in showing the title, not the substance. In fact, the listening insists that the information the tv shows want the professor to present is not much deeper than what a reporter can research on his own.


-- written by Joe Yu, ESL instructor, during a timed writing activity