Some people support _______ by claiming that ________. In their opinion, _______________. In addition, ______________________. Meanwhile, there are some people who __________________. Their reasons are different, sometimes for __________, sometimes for __________________, sometimes simply for ____________________.

Personally, my attitude for this matter is positive. Firstly, ____________. Moreover, _______________. Lastly, ________________________. Therefore, __________.

Sound familiar? This is part of a template EFL Chinese students are given in a test preparation class. Each year, thousands of Chinese students are taking TOEFL, IELTS, or SAT in order to pursue their study overseas. The majority of the students are steered toward test prep courses, in which they learn how to write to the test. In many test prep courses, template teaching becomes the core content of teaching. Material writers or teachers categorize the writing prompts of the authentic tests or sample tests and provide templates for each type of writing prompt, such as templates for problem-solving essays, templates for argumentation essays, and templates for compare-and-contrast essays.

Class time is largely devoted to showing model essays of each type, analyzing how the questions in the actual tests are framed, and categorizing the writing tasks into template types. Students are working hard to familiarize themselves with different writing prompts and to memorize the templates, with the hope that they can recognize the writing task type and swiftly retrieve the corresponding template in the test situation. Some test prep courses even proudly claim to have developed an all-purpose template ready for students to use for any writing topics the students may encounter in the tests.

Templates are tempting, as they are easy to teach and to learn. Teachers just provide different templates for students to memorize. Learning objectives and outcomes are clearer than they would be if teaching intangible critical thinking skills in writing. Students just need to memorize the template and fill in the blanks with the content of the writing prompts. For students who want to compile a 250-word or 300-word essay within the test time constraints, the template is a tool for a quick start and a helpful crutch. Though this template approach may get students to pass the test, does it teach students to write well? Does it fulfill the very goals that those writing tests are designed to achieve and assess?

An essential goal of the TOEFL or IELTS writing test is to assess prospective students’ ability to write in standard academic English. The tests are designed to prepare and introduce the students to the nature of academic writing in the universities in English-speaking countries. Learning writing by merely filling in templates actually sabotages the goals of these tests. Students trained in this way will bring their conceptualization of writing as mechanical learning of structures and vocabulary to the universities where writing is conceptualized as a tool of thinking and articulation of one’s complex ideas. Without any template to rely on, these students will find it challenging to handle academic writing tasks. The effect of template learning is hard to reverse when students think this is the way to learn writing. Students’ experience in writing for tests may actually turn out to be an obstacle for their later study overseas.

Helping students understand the preferred structure of academic writing is important in preparing students for TOEFL or IELTS writing tests. However, there are more creative ways to achieve this objective than focusing merely on teaching templates. Preparing students for a test should involve identifying the challenges of the test and preparing students for such challenges, not creating standardized students who are controlled to write for the test.

To rise to the challenges of TOEFL or IELTS academic writing tasks, students need two sets of skills: language skills and academic skills. Test-takers are expected to demonstrate their language skills in their use of grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling in writing. Probably equally important, if not more, they are expected to show their academic skills in analyzing a situation, synthesizing information, evaluating an opinion, organizing their thoughts, and presenting their thoughts clearly. A good test prep course needs to address those skills.

The specific teaching activities to target the skills may vary from one situation to another, but two essential teaching practices that would benefit students are taking students through the process of thinking and writing, and providing feedback on students’ writing. When analyzing a writing task, it is important for students to know the task type, but that is not the end. Teachers may raise questions or utilize mind mapping that would help students to think critically on a given topic. Instead of just showing models and templates, teachers may model the thinking process for students and show how planning, writing, and reviewing take shape. Showing students a loaf of bread cannot guarantee that they know how to make one on their own; showing the process will help. In terms of giving feedback, this would enable students to see their strengths and weaknesses in language skills and academic skills, motivate them to revise their understanding of the test tasks, and help them understand why sometimes they follow the recipe but still fail to make a delicious loaf of bread.

By moving beyond the tempting templates, a good writing prep course can not only help students perform well on the tests but also serve as a bridge that connects EFL students’ past experience in learning general English to the expected learning of academic English in the near future.

Ming Fang is a doctoral candidate in the Foreign and Second Language Education program at The Ohio State University. Her research interests include second language writing, world Englishes, and nonnative teacher professional development.