I'm 40 years old and I'm learning all of this stuff here for the first time. I was never taught the branches, instead the focus was sentence structure, simple sentence, compound sentence etc. I've been writing mediocre all my life because educators could not point out the comedy of what I was expressing. Hats!
Hi Dr. Boosalis, I wonder why you said we have to avoid the passive voice sentences in the cbest test, even when I write passive voice sentences with correct grammar ? Thank you.
If I remember correctly, I recommended it in personal responses so that students will stay within the word count and because the tone of the writing sounds better when asked to write a personal response to something. For example, when one writes a personal response, then the reader would expect I, me, and mine statements Of course, writing "I think," "I believe," etc. over and over can also be repetitious and distracting, so authors need to balance active and passive sentences sometimes. Note that I did my best in this paragraph to avoid the passive voice. Hope that helps! Chris B.
Thank you so much for your videos! They are very helpful I am a little confused... For our expository essay we can write personal experiences? Or only for narrative essays?
Hope the below helps: Hello - The best answer that I can give, if I've understood correctly, is here: www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/content/docs/CBEST_OPT_Writing.pdf The first essay appears to be persuasive in nature, while the second is a personal narrative. That is the structure of the CBEST, as far as I know. Please see page 5 of the technical specifications : www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/content/docs/CBESTUpdatedTestSpecs.pdf I would suggest looking at other, similar tests that have essays that are CBEST-like. CSET Writing www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/content/docs/CSET_Prep/CS_142_teststructure_items.pdf MTEL www.mtel.nesinc.com/content/Docs/MA_FLD201_Writing_PRACTICE_TEST.pdf WEST-B www.west.nesinc.com/Content/Docs/WESTB_SG_Writing.pdf
This is a very good analysis for CBEST writing which really helped me to see how the levels are differentiated. However, because I came to US merely a short time, it would be very hard for me, as a foreigner, to write such a topic as showing a visitor a place which manifest American culture... I am not even familiar with my surroundings yet. I hope the real exam topics does not assume all test takers are Americans, while it is totally fair to expect their English passing certain standard.
Thank you for the compliment. I am not sure how biased the questions are; I do know that students who are non-native speakers of English can and do pass the test. Of course, being native born will help in many, many ways with the content of the test, but keep in mind that even native-born US students do fail the exam, too. I think that it is a matter of writing an essay that answers the questions and is free of grammar and spelling errors. www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/content/docs/CBEST_OPT_Writing.pdf The first essay appears to be persuasive in nature, while the second is a personal narrative. That is the structure of the CBEST, as far as I know. Please see page 5 of the technical specifications as there might be updates: www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/content/docs/CBESTUpdatedTestSpecs.pdf I would suggest looking at other, similar tests that have essays that are CBEST-like. CSET Writing www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/content/docs/CSET_Prep/CS_142_teststructure_items.pdf MTEL www.mtel.nesinc.com/content/Docs/MA_FLD201_Writing_PRACTICE_TEST.pdf WEST-B www.west.nesinc.com/Content/Docs/WESTB_SG_Writing.pdf Hope that helps, Chris B.
@@distanceprep Thank you so much for your detailed reply. They are very helpful links. I have one more question to ask; in the document, the 2 types of writing in cbest are "expressive writing and expository writing"; is "expressive writing" actually " narrative writing"?
I'm 40 years old and I'm learning all of this stuff here for the first time. I was never taught the branches, instead the focus was sentence structure, simple sentence, compound sentence etc. I've been writing mediocre all my life because educators could not point out the comedy of what I was expressing. Hats!
Diagramming sentences in the 1970s made me the person I am today. Well, MAD Magazine did that, in all honest.
Thank you so much for the teaching! They are so useful for ESL students who want to pass the cbest.
Glad it is helpful! I hope that it continues to be so!
Hi Dr. Boosalis, I wonder why you said we have to avoid the passive voice sentences in the cbest test, even when I write passive voice sentences with correct grammar ? Thank you.
If I remember correctly, I recommended it in personal responses so that students will stay within the word count and because the tone of the writing sounds better when asked to write a personal response to something. For example, when one writes a personal response, then the reader would expect I, me, and mine statements Of course, writing "I think," "I believe," etc. over and over can also be repetitious and distracting, so authors need to balance active and passive sentences sometimes. Note that I did my best in this paragraph to avoid the passive voice. Hope that helps! Chris B.
@@distanceprep Thank you for responding my question.
Thank you so much for your videos!
They are very helpful
I am a little confused...
For our expository essay we can write personal experiences?
Or only for narrative essays?
Also is there a book that you use or are all this notes yours?
Yes! I forgot about it completely! www.scribd.com/doc/35885651/Cbest-Cset-Writing-Update
Hope the below helps:
Hello - The best answer that I can give, if I've understood correctly, is here: www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/content/docs/CBEST_OPT_Writing.pdf
The first essay appears to be persuasive in nature, while the second is a personal narrative. That is the structure of the CBEST, as far as I know. Please see page 5 of the technical specifications :
www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/content/docs/CBESTUpdatedTestSpecs.pdf
I would suggest looking at other, similar tests that have essays that are CBEST-like.
CSET Writing
www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/content/docs/CSET_Prep/CS_142_teststructure_items.pdf
MTEL
www.mtel.nesinc.com/content/Docs/MA_FLD201_Writing_PRACTICE_TEST.pdf
WEST-B
www.west.nesinc.com/Content/Docs/WESTB_SG_Writing.pdf
This is a very good analysis for CBEST writing which really helped me to see how the levels are differentiated. However, because I came to US merely a short time, it would be very hard for me, as a foreigner, to write such a topic as showing a visitor a place which manifest American culture... I am not even familiar with my surroundings yet. I hope the real exam topics does not assume all test takers are Americans, while it is totally fair to expect their English passing certain standard.
Thank you for the compliment. I am not sure how biased the questions are; I do know that students who are non-native speakers of English can and do pass the test. Of course, being native born will help in many, many ways with the content of the test, but keep in mind that even native-born US students do fail the exam, too. I think that it is a matter of writing an essay that answers the questions and is free of grammar and spelling errors.
www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/content/docs/CBEST_OPT_Writing.pdf
The first essay appears to be persuasive in nature, while the second is a personal narrative. That is the structure of the CBEST, as far as I know. Please see page 5 of the technical specifications as there might be updates:
www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/content/docs/CBESTUpdatedTestSpecs.pdf
I would suggest looking at other, similar tests that have essays that are CBEST-like.
CSET Writing
www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/content/docs/CSET_Prep/CS_142_teststructure_items.pdf
MTEL
www.mtel.nesinc.com/content/Docs/MA_FLD201_Writing_PRACTICE_TEST.pdf
WEST-B
www.west.nesinc.com/Content/Docs/WESTB_SG_Writing.pdf
Hope that helps,
Chris B.
@@distanceprep Thank you so much for your detailed reply. They are very helpful links. I have one more question to ask; in the document, the 2 types of writing in cbest are "expressive writing and expository writing"; is "expressive writing" actually " narrative writing"?
Yes - that is my interpretation/impression.