TOEFL independent writing test 3 with sample essay

Question:

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement:

Technological devices in communication have harmful effects on the young’s

Give details and examples to support your answer

Sample essay:

The convenience that technological devices bring to our life is out of question. They help our communication carried out quickly and easily. However, considering the effects of technology on our “communication skills” which are measured on the communicating culture and the ability to transform ideas, we can’t help wondering if high-tech devices really have positive influences.

Speaking of communicating culture, technology is somehow destroying the concrete standards long held in our belief system. Those standards require any conversation’s carriers the necessary politeness and respect for each other. With the help of technology, people can communicate through phones or via the Internet. Those devices with their specific features, though, have profoundly changed the way people talk. Talking on the phone is so convenient that we do it everywhere, revealing everything of our privacy, in public, not concerning about others’ feelings. It charges us on the length of our calls, so, we naturally find ways to save words, to quit our conversations as soon as possible. The Internet, on the other hand, gives way to variety of eccentric ways of using language. Slangs, informal, non-standard languages are abused, seriously destroying the purity of a national spiritual value. Those distorted uses of language are brought to life, causing numerous misunderstanding and unpleasant situations.

Technological devices, furthermore, can limit, not to say worsen our ability of transforming ideas. Undoubtedly, face-to-face communication is our daily task and it does highly demand we, not our phone or computer, use words and expression to exchange information. Communicating on the phone or sending messages via the Internet do not require our efforts to make use of body language as an important means. Those devices, therefore, possibly lead to our losing basic communicating skills. In daily conversations today, many people barely use or are confused with using eye contacts, face expression or body gestures to expose their ideas, show feelings or create a conversational atmosphere. Instead, we are already familiar with cold faces, emotionless looks, and indifferent voices from many of our partners. This is clearly a negative result of the so-called digital communication.

To sum up, we do not accuse technological devices of harming our communicating culture, but we need to consider carefully how to use them to improve, not to worsen, our communication skills.