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Hello enriching members of this forum!
As probably I have already told in other subcategory of this forum, my name is Roberto and I am Spaniard. I am excintingly studying for the TOEFL and taking the exam on October 21st. Wish me very good luck
I have arrived to the point at which I have started practising the writing section. Today, I began with the Integrated Essay Task and I gave a try to the practice example that is offered in the TOEFL OG. As you may know, in the OG the lecture is transcripted so our listening skills, which can be quite important in this sort of task, are not tested. However, I followed all the timing rules and note-taking process and tried to make my essay´s development as realistic as possible. Here is the result. I hope that this review lets me get clearer whether or not I am in the right path to develop a coherent and high-level essay for this task.
That said, as follows I post the reading passage and the transcript from the audio. Thereafter, I attach my essay related to that material.
READING
In many organizations, perhaps the best way to approach certain new projects
is to assemble a group of people into a team. Having a team of people attack
a project offers several advantages. First of all, a group of people has a wider
range of knowledge, expertise, and skills than any single individual is likely
to possess. Also, because of the numbers of people involved and the greater
resources they possess, a group can work more quickly in response to the task
assigned to it and can come up with highly creative solutions to problems and
issues. Sometimes these creative solutions come about because a group is
more likely to make risky decisions that an individual might not undertake. This
is because the group spreads responsibility for a decision to all the members
and thus no single individual can be held accountable if the decision turns out
to be wrong.
Taking part in a group process can be very rewarding for members of the team.
Team members who have a voice in making a decision will no doubt feel better
about carrying out the work that is entailed by that decision than they might
doing work that is imposed on them by others. Also, the individual team
member has a much better chance to “shine,” to get his or her contributions
and ideas not only recognized but recognized as highly significant, because a
team’s overall results can be more far-reaching and have greater impact than
what might have otherwise been possible for the person to accomplish or
contribute working alone.
LISTENING
Now I want to tell you about what one company found when it decided that it would
turn over some of its new projects to teams of people, and make the team responsible
for planning the projects and getting the work done. After about six months, the company
took a look at how well the teams performed.
On virtually every team, some members got almost a “free ride” . . . they didn’t
contribute much at all, but if their team did a good job, they nevertheless benefited
from the recognition the team got. And what about group members who worked especially
well and who provided a lot of insight on problems and issues? Well . . . the
recognition for a job well done went to the group as a whole, no names were named.
So it won’t surprise you to learn that when the real contributors were asked how they
felt about the group process, their attitude was just the opposite of what the reading
predicts.
Another finding was that some projects just didn’t move very quickly. Why? Because
it took so long to reach consensus; it took many, many meetings to build the
agreement among group members about how they would move the project along. On the other hand, there were other instances where one or two people managed to become
very influential over what their group did. Sometimes when those influencers
said “That will never work” about an idea the group was developing, the idea was
quickly dropped instead of being further discussed. And then there was another occasion
when a couple influencers convinced the group that a plan of theirs was “highly
creative.” And even though some members tried to warn the rest of the group that the
project was moving in directions that might not work, they were basically ignored by
other group members. Can you guess the ending to this story? When the project
failed, the blame was placed on all the members of the group.
QUESTION
Summarize the points made in the lecture you just heard, explaining how they cast
doubt on points made in the reading.
ESSAY
The article concerns the topic of the advantages of working as a team to undertake a project and provides three reasons of support. However, the professor takes the time to explain that, according to the results that stem from the observation of a group working in a project for a six months period, no real benefits derive from this practice. Because of this, the information presented in the lecture directly contradicts what is stated in the text.
First of all, the reading points out that working as a group brings a wider range of knowledge, expertise and skills to the project development than any insight that could be provided by a single individual working alone. The professor refutes this point by saying that in working groups some individuals can get a “free ride”. As a result, those subjects benefit from the outcome without providing anything to the development of the project, given that the success is recognized to the group as a whole. The professor states that, when the real contributors of the project are asked, they highly disagree with the assertion that working in a group means a broader knowledge endowment.
Secondly, the article posists that working as a group makes the project accomplishment quicker than working alone. The professor denies this argument by mentioning that, in the practical approach, working as a group does not breed any improvement in terms of problem-solving speed. According to the professor, working on this manner it takes more time to reach any consensus and the number of meetings needed to seek an agreement increase.
Thirdly, the reading claims that working as a group lets the single individuals that comprise the group to “shine” for their creative ideas because the results that are reached as a team can be weighted in a greater measure than the ones exposed by a single person. The professor opposes this point by explaining that frequently there are one or two individuals in the group that possess more influence than the rest and their opinion outweighs theirs. He asserts that those unselected leaders have the power to drop ideas without further discussion. However, if the project fails, the blame of that failure is established over the group as a whole.
In conclusion, the lecturer arguments against the presented idea that working as a group holds more advantages than working alone. He does so by presenting three points about the actual disadvantages of working in that manner, namely presence of “free-ride” members, delayed problem-solving speed and creativity constrains caused by influencing members.
FIRST GLANCE MISTAKES:
- In my opinion, probably I have written too much. My work recount goes to 423, what is much more than the 225 words requirement for this task. Maybe I have to reduce the body of my template and get rid of some connectors.
- I did not mention the point that "taking a decision working in a group is less risky than taking it working alone" because at the "hands-on-it" time I was not able to match it with any of the points treated in the lecture. Anyway, that would only have contributed to make my essay even longer.
Thanks for your helful and valuable comments!
Have a great day all of you!
King regards,
RooIgle.
As probably I have already told in other subcategory of this forum, my name is Roberto and I am Spaniard. I am excintingly studying for the TOEFL and taking the exam on October 21st. Wish me very good luck
I have arrived to the point at which I have started practising the writing section. Today, I began with the Integrated Essay Task and I gave a try to the practice example that is offered in the TOEFL OG. As you may know, in the OG the lecture is transcripted so our listening skills, which can be quite important in this sort of task, are not tested. However, I followed all the timing rules and note-taking process and tried to make my essay´s development as realistic as possible. Here is the result. I hope that this review lets me get clearer whether or not I am in the right path to develop a coherent and high-level essay for this task.
That said, as follows I post the reading passage and the transcript from the audio. Thereafter, I attach my essay related to that material.
READING
In many organizations, perhaps the best way to approach certain new projects
is to assemble a group of people into a team. Having a team of people attack
a project offers several advantages. First of all, a group of people has a wider
range of knowledge, expertise, and skills than any single individual is likely
to possess. Also, because of the numbers of people involved and the greater
resources they possess, a group can work more quickly in response to the task
assigned to it and can come up with highly creative solutions to problems and
issues. Sometimes these creative solutions come about because a group is
more likely to make risky decisions that an individual might not undertake. This
is because the group spreads responsibility for a decision to all the members
and thus no single individual can be held accountable if the decision turns out
to be wrong.
Taking part in a group process can be very rewarding for members of the team.
Team members who have a voice in making a decision will no doubt feel better
about carrying out the work that is entailed by that decision than they might
doing work that is imposed on them by others. Also, the individual team
member has a much better chance to “shine,” to get his or her contributions
and ideas not only recognized but recognized as highly significant, because a
team’s overall results can be more far-reaching and have greater impact than
what might have otherwise been possible for the person to accomplish or
contribute working alone.
LISTENING
Now I want to tell you about what one company found when it decided that it would
turn over some of its new projects to teams of people, and make the team responsible
for planning the projects and getting the work done. After about six months, the company
took a look at how well the teams performed.
On virtually every team, some members got almost a “free ride” . . . they didn’t
contribute much at all, but if their team did a good job, they nevertheless benefited
from the recognition the team got. And what about group members who worked especially
well and who provided a lot of insight on problems and issues? Well . . . the
recognition for a job well done went to the group as a whole, no names were named.
So it won’t surprise you to learn that when the real contributors were asked how they
felt about the group process, their attitude was just the opposite of what the reading
predicts.
Another finding was that some projects just didn’t move very quickly. Why? Because
it took so long to reach consensus; it took many, many meetings to build the
agreement among group members about how they would move the project along. On the other hand, there were other instances where one or two people managed to become
very influential over what their group did. Sometimes when those influencers
said “That will never work” about an idea the group was developing, the idea was
quickly dropped instead of being further discussed. And then there was another occasion
when a couple influencers convinced the group that a plan of theirs was “highly
creative.” And even though some members tried to warn the rest of the group that the
project was moving in directions that might not work, they were basically ignored by
other group members. Can you guess the ending to this story? When the project
failed, the blame was placed on all the members of the group.
QUESTION
Summarize the points made in the lecture you just heard, explaining how they cast
doubt on points made in the reading.
ESSAY
The article concerns the topic of the advantages of working as a team to undertake a project and provides three reasons of support. However, the professor takes the time to explain that, according to the results that stem from the observation of a group working in a project for a six months period, no real benefits derive from this practice. Because of this, the information presented in the lecture directly contradicts what is stated in the text.
First of all, the reading points out that working as a group brings a wider range of knowledge, expertise and skills to the project development than any insight that could be provided by a single individual working alone. The professor refutes this point by saying that in working groups some individuals can get a “free ride”. As a result, those subjects benefit from the outcome without providing anything to the development of the project, given that the success is recognized to the group as a whole. The professor states that, when the real contributors of the project are asked, they highly disagree with the assertion that working in a group means a broader knowledge endowment.
Secondly, the article posists that working as a group makes the project accomplishment quicker than working alone. The professor denies this argument by mentioning that, in the practical approach, working as a group does not breed any improvement in terms of problem-solving speed. According to the professor, working on this manner it takes more time to reach any consensus and the number of meetings needed to seek an agreement increase.
Thirdly, the reading claims that working as a group lets the single individuals that comprise the group to “shine” for their creative ideas because the results that are reached as a team can be weighted in a greater measure than the ones exposed by a single person. The professor opposes this point by explaining that frequently there are one or two individuals in the group that possess more influence than the rest and their opinion outweighs theirs. He asserts that those unselected leaders have the power to drop ideas without further discussion. However, if the project fails, the blame of that failure is established over the group as a whole.
In conclusion, the lecturer arguments against the presented idea that working as a group holds more advantages than working alone. He does so by presenting three points about the actual disadvantages of working in that manner, namely presence of “free-ride” members, delayed problem-solving speed and creativity constrains caused by influencing members.
FIRST GLANCE MISTAKES:
- In my opinion, probably I have written too much. My work recount goes to 423, what is much more than the 225 words requirement for this task. Maybe I have to reduce the body of my template and get rid of some connectors.
- I did not mention the point that "taking a decision working in a group is less risky than taking it working alone" because at the "hands-on-it" time I was not able to match it with any of the points treated in the lecture. Anyway, that would only have contributed to make my essay even longer.
Thanks for your helful and valuable comments!
Have a great day all of you!
King regards,
RooIgle.
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