TOEFL iBT Integrated Writing Task

Reading passage
The English word acronym comes from the Greek words eakrosf meaning etopmostf and eonomaf meaning enamef. An acronym is a special type of abbreviation, or shortened word, in which the initial letters of words or word parts are read as a new word or phrase. A good example of this is the word laser which is a shortened form of Light Amplification and Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Another example is NATO, formed from the words North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

There is some disagreement as to what exactly an acronym is. Some people think that acronym covers all expressions in which the initial letter or part of a word is used, regardless of whether it can be pronounced as a word, or as a combination of letters. To these people not only would JAL (Japan Airlines) and Todai (a Japanese acronym combining the first parts of the words for Tokyo University) be acronyms, but also NHK (Nihon Hoso Kyokai, the Japanese public TV channel) and CNN (Cable News Network): the latter two being pronounced as a series of individual letters.

Other people believe that acronyms can only be groups of letters or word parts that are pronounced as a word. Those who think this way would not call CNN an acronym; they would call it an initialism or alphabetism.

To further confuse the issue, there is a third group of words that combine the qualities of both acronyms and initialisms. If we consider the expressions spelt JPEG (pronounced jay-peg, a kind of internet image file), and MS-DOS (pronounced em ess doss, the original Windows operating system), we can see that they are partly read as an individual letter and partly as a word. The terms are often called acronym-initialism hybrids. (287 words)

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 Listening passage
In 1983, one of the new words to enter the English language was ebackronymf. A backronym spelt B-A-C-K-R-O-N-Y-M is a special type of acronym that begins as an ordinary word, and only later is seen by people as an acronym.

A backronym is created when one constructs a phrase that has, as its acronym, an existing short word. Backronyms can be serious official expressions or they can be created for humorous reasons. An example of a serious backronym is PERL, spelt P-E-R-L. PERL is a computer programming language and Larry Wall, its inventor wanted to call it PEARL, P-E-A-R-L, like the jewel we find in oysters. Unfortunately, that word was already in use as a computer term, so Mr. Wall changed the name of his programming language to PERL by removing the letter A. The word PERL was actually just a name, but later people started to say that PERL meant Practical Extraction and Report Language and now many believe that this is why this programming language is known as PERL. PERL has become a backronym. Another example is the international distress signal, SOS. It started life as an easy to transmit group of Morse code letters and had no special meaning. Now, almost everyone believes it stands for Save Our Souls.

A humorous example of a backronym is the sport golf. Some people have said that this name is an acronym for the phrase Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden. Actually, this is nonsense; the word golf never meant this. The term comes from egowff, the original Scottish name for the sport. Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden is simply an example of people making up a funny meaning for a word. It is a backronym.

Another type of backronym is when the words from an existing acronym are changed for some reason. A good example of this is the expression eDVDf. When the DVD was invented, it was used show movies and other images and was initially called a eDigital Video Discf. Now, however, DVDfs are used more often to store large amounts of computer data and the original meaning of Digital Video Disc has changed to Digital Versatile Disc.

Acronym reading notes
Main Idea: Acronym, special type of abbreviation such as NATO
Derivation: from Greek means etopmost wordf
MP1 --- first type of acronym
              -- all expressions using first letter or part of word
                     - examples, not only JAL, Laser, but also CNN
MP2 --- second type of acronym
              -- only expressions that can be pronounced as a word
                     - in this view JAL is OK, Laser is OK
                     - but CNN is not OK (CNN is an initialism)
MP3 --- third group of expressions combine 'pure' acronym and initialism
                    -- called acronym-initialism hybrid
                        - examples, JPEG, MS-DOS                

Backronym Listening notes
Main Idea: Backronym, a kind of false acronym
Definition: expression that starts and ordinary word, later becomes acronym, can be serious or humourous
MP1 --- serious examples of backronym
                  -- PERL computer language, just name
                        - later people add meaning Primary Extraction and Retrieval Language
                        - Perl's creator never intended this
                  -- SOS, just morse code
                        - later people add meaning Save Our Souls
MP2 --- humorous example of backronym
                 -- golf, old Scottish name of sport
                       - later people add meaning Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden
MP3 --- another type of bacronym (acronyms whose original meaning changes)
                  -- DVD
                        - originally Digital Video Disc, later Digital Versatile Disc

(Do NOT try to include all of the notes above in your essay. These notes are very complete. You will not have time to reproduce them in your essay. Write only what you think is most important.)

Sample Essay
In this set of materials, the reading passage explains the term acronym, and the listening passage describes a kind of efalse acronymf called a backronym.

In the reading passage, we are told that an acronym is an expression which is comprised of the first letters or first parts of a group of words.  A typical example of this is the expression NATO. There are however, two schools of thought as to what exactly an acronym is. One view is that any expression using first letters or parts of words is an acronym. This standpoint would regard both NATO and CNN as acronyms. The other position is that only when the acronym can be pronounced as a word is it a true acronym. People who take this view would class NATO as a acronym, but not CNN. They would call CNN an initialism or alphabetism. A combination of acronym and initialism , such as MS-DOS is called an acronym/intialism hybrid.

The listening passage defines the new word backronym. A backronym is an expression consisting of an ordinary word which has later been turned into an acronym by giving a meaning to each of its letters. These can be either serious or humorous. The distress signal SOS is an example of a backronym. Originally just morse code letters, people later came to say these letters stood for Save Our Souls. The humorous type of acronym can be exemplified by golf, which some jokers decided to say meant eGentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden.f A further meaning for backronym is when the words making an acronym change. Recently the 'V' of DVD changed from 'Video' to 'Versatile', making it a backronym.(277)


Sample Essay 2
In this set of materials, the reading passage explains the term acronym, and the listening passage describes a kind of efalse acronymf called a backronym.

In the reading passage, we are told that an acronym is an expression which is comprised of the first letters or first parts of a group of words, for example NATO. There are however, two schools of thought as to what exactly an acronym is. One view is that any expression using first letters or parts of words is an acronym. This standpoint would regard both NATO and CNN as acronyms. The other position is that only when the acronym can be pronounced as a word is it a true acronym. People who take this view would class NATO as a acronym, but not CNN.

The listening passage defines the new word backronym. A backronym is an expression consisting of an ordinary word which has later been turned into an acronym by giving a meaning to each of its letters. These can be either serious or humorous. The distress signal SOS is an example of a backronym. Originally just morse code letters, people later said these letters stood for Save Our Souls. The humorous type of acronym can be exemplified by golf, which some jokers say means eGentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden. (216)