IELTS writing seems to have been a theme in my posting for the last week. I see lots of students who are reaching high bands in listening and reading but not quite making the mark with writing (and also sometimes speaking).
I see lots of people asking lots of questions about how to organise paragraphs, how to balance their arguments, how to create topic sentences and so on and so on. In fact, to write a good IELTS task you must analyse the data, and the questions – this is the case for both academic and general training. The question tells you what to do.
Here is a typical IELTS question:
Some believe that charitable organisations should help people no matter where they live. Others argue that charities should only help those living in the country where the charity is based.
Discuss both views and give your opinion.
This is a straightforward discussion + opinion:
- Some people believe that charities should help people in any location
- Others think charities should only help those people in the same country
Things to watch:
- This is ONLY about charities and the location of the people needing help
- You need to decide what you think about the two groups
- Do you agree with one side?
- Do you sit somewhere in the middle?
Things to do:
- State your opinion in the introduction – last sentence and re-state in the conclusion
- Talk about group 1 in one paragraph and group 2 in the other
- Make sure you provide evidence for the ideas you make
- Make sure that the writing agrees with the stand you take in the introduction
As well as making money, businesses also have social responsibilities.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Here you need to take a stand – it’s easier to agree or disagree:
- Businesses make money but…
- They also have social responsibilities (you may need to define this)
Things to watch:
- Make a clear decision about your position (agree or disagree)
- Think about why you take this position
- Give evidence for this
- Think of a good example to illustrate
Things to do:
- State your position in the introduction – last sentence and re-state in the conclusion
- Be very careful NOT to make this a discussion – it’s one side only
- Make sure you provide some good reasons for your position and good evidence and examples for this
- Make sure that the writing agrees with the stand you take throughout the task
People today rarely interact with their neighbours, and this is having a harmful effect on local communities.
What are the possible causes of this trend? What can be done to address it?
This is my favourite task – it’s easy - just one paragraph for causes and one for measures:
- People interact rarely with neighbours – why?
- This is harmful for local communities – how can the harm be stopped? (the measures)
Things to watch:
- Choose a number of reasons – 3 is good – explore these in paragraph 1
- Balance this in paragraph 2 with the same number of measures to counteract the reasons
- Don’t get into whether you agree or disagree or what people think – just explore
Things to do:
- State the overall problem in the introduction – signal that there are ways of resolving it
- Keep it objective
- You can provide examples if you have any – don’t make them personal
- Make sure that the paragraphs balance