Which Writing Section is Harder? Comparing IELTS, TOEFL and Duolingo English Test
Duolingo English Test (DET) seems to be tapping on everyone’s shoulders this year. With an accessible price and a rain-or-shine online delivery, DET is a popular choice among many international university applicants for their English Language Requirements this year.
However, the Duolingo English Test is not “another IELTS/TOEFL”. If you find yourself needing to invest practice time for an English Language Test, give some thoughts to the exam formats before beginning trainings.
Let’s compare the Writing sections in TOEFL, IELTS and Duolingo. These opinions are my own, and a writing specialist may disagree with me.
IELTS Writing
The Writing Section on the IELTS Academic takes 1 hour to finish. You will produce two essays on paper if taking the Paper-based IELTS (more widely available); or type them on the computer if you went with the Computer-based IELTS.
Here are the two required essays:
- Descriptive Essay —min. 150 words based on a graph, in about 20 minutes
- Argumentative Essay — min. 250 words in about 40 minutes.
From IDP/British Council/Cambridge English Assessment (Source). There is only one topic choice for each of the two tasks. Checkout a sample test here.
TOEFL Writing
TOEFL writing requires the completion of 2 writing tasks.
- Integrated writing— read a short passage and listen to a short lecture, then write in response to them (min. 150 words in 20 minutes).
- Independent writing task —argumentative or based on personal experience (min. 300 words in 30 minutes).
Instructions from ETS (Source). Checkout a sample test here.
Duolingo Writing
Duolingo English Test has 2 types of writing assignments. You will be required to write either:
- at least 1 sentence about an image
- at least 50 words about a topic in 5 minutes
- (Interview task) any number of words about one of two given topics in 3–5 minutes.
The prompts for the latter two tasks could come in text form, picture form, or audio form. You will be given 20–25 seconds to think before the countdown timer starts. The tasks could be descriptive or argumentative in nature.
Visit Duolingo to take a sample test now.
More demanding in speed: DET
The fast-paced format of the DET may be more challenging in terms of the speed of writing. On the DET, test takers have to produce sentences faster in both typing and thinking. You will produce 10 words per minute, compared to 7.5 on the IELTS — at the minimum. You may want to consider having a 70–90 words paragraph in practice. Having a longer paragraph could score more points in unique words and sentence structures, given that the AI grader may not readily award points for brevity. You are possibly graded based on the average number of unique words by the pool of test-takers who encountered this particular task, so having more writing features helps. Of course, writing more words stretches your time and leaves more sentences for grammatical errors, which will take the AI grader less than 0.0001 seconds to catch.
More demanding in organization skills: IELTS/TOEFL
IELTS/TOEFL writing may be more challenging in its essay writing requirement. You will need to organize your thoughts into paragraphs and have proper structures within each. You will have an introduction, at least 2 body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. You will have a topic sentence followed by development and a concluding sentence within each of them.
The implication? The IELTS/TOEFL writing section demands a bank of transition words (remember your “nevertheless”, “on the other hand,” “in contrast,” etc.?) and more attention to staying on the thesis.
More demanding in vocabulary: DET
You will need a broader vocabulary to score high on the DET. This is because the non-scientific descriptive component of writing is more prominent on the DET. You will be required to describe a picture ranging from landscape, animals to potentially a barebones graph. You may find yourself looking at a dolphin’s tail (only the tail!) and having to describe the colors or how it glistens in the sun. Knowing the key vocabulary for describing a pie chart, as we often do for the IELTS, will not suffice.
More demanding in exposition/narration: IELTS/TOEFL
Since the IELTS and the TOEFL both require full-blown essays, test takers should be prepared with more skilled exposition in writing. While you need not produce an Alexander Hamilton-grade composition, you should aim to frame your arguments in logical interlocking sentences. The clarity will help your human grader who will read it in a few glances. Developing good narration skills could be painful, but any time you spent on it will help your future academic work. If time is wanting, though, don’t sweat it. For all we know, many colleges/universities will not even look at your English Language Test scores once you passed the minimum score band.
More demanding in critical thinking: TOEFL
The integrated writing section in the TOEFL requires comprehension, analysis, and careful organization of ideas. Test takers should sufficiently respond to the passage and lecture materials provided, while being careful not fill their work with only paraphrases. You will be required to know what key points are there and be able to expand on them. A great response will be one that adds a different perspective to the mini debate presented to you by the exam board.
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