TOEFL Speaking - section 2

ScottsEnglish · April 2016

In the second speaking section, you have 15 seconds to read a topic and prepare (you may take notes), and then you need to speak for 45 seconds about the topic. Read the following topic and then speak about it for 45 seconds.

Some universities require students to work on campus during their studies. In your opinion, is this positive or negative for the students' studies?

Click here for two possible responses.

Positive: University prepares students for the world of work. Having a job means that the student learns responsibility, arriving on time for work, how to organize his or her time. Having a job also means having some spending money and learning how to budget. If the student works on campus, that means he or she does not have to travel very far in order to work. The working environment is different from studying, so the student has a boss and colleagues, and learns to interact with them. A campus job is also something the student can put on his or her résumé which might interest future employers.

Negative: The university years are a chance for the student to learn as much as possible about as many different areas as possible. Working on campus means time taken away from a student's studies. At university a student is also building the networks he or she will use for the rest of his or her life. Time spent in a student job is time not spent interacting with fellow students. Plus, the types of jobs that a university might propose to students, like working in the kitchen or cleaning, are not the jobs a student will be doing with his or her diploma.