The IELTS test evaluates your current level of English and how well you can use the language in the four basic skills. Memorizing complex grammatical structures and academic vocabulary and reproducing them without being competent enough is not the best idea to achieve your highest score. This is specifically true for the writing tasks.
Writing Task 1 Writing task 1 is not a platform for you to write down what you think and to show how smart and knowledgeable you are about a topic. It simply tests if you can properly express yourself in a factual manner using information that is given to you. For this task it is absolutely necessary to practice with fixed structures and learn the language of describing graphs, data, charts, etc. This is something you will need to look into, no matter how good your level of English is. Advanced students often make the mistake of going unprepared into the IELTS test and being surprised about their low scores in the writing section. The writing section is not only about your English skills and how competent you are in writing, it is also about how familiar you are with what is expected of you (so make sure you check the writing descriptors before you take the test). For the writing task 1, learn the language of description and apply it to your writing. The best material for the writing task 1 which I also use with my students and can recommend to anyone is the IELTS Buddy ebook for writing task 1. It provides you with 'templates' that can be used with any topic and if you practice these templates, you will end up finding the task quite easy. Writing Task 2 For writing task 2, I always tell my students to go ahead and to try out using academic vocabulary and complex grammatical structures they are unsure of during the lessons. This is how you learn and get better, i.e. by making mistakes and learning from them. However, if you take the actual IELTS test, there is no room for such experiments. If you write at your current level of English without making any mistakes you will receive a higher score than if you use highly complex structures and academic vocabulary but you don’t use them correctly. So keep in mind to stick to what you are capable of for the writing task 2 . Practicing for the writing task 2 is similar to writing task 1 as it is best to have a standardized template that you can use for any essay. The examiners marking your writing task 2 do not judge the quality of your arguments, their scores are purely based on the 4 areas: task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resources, grammatical range and accuracy. This means that it is more important how you write your essay than what you write. Of course having great arguments helps but if you cannot put them into English, it won't get you a high score! So don't waste your time trying to find the perfect arguments in answering a writing task 2 question. Good arguments are good enough! Rather focus on making your answer flow and be careful to proofread so you don't make any mistakes. IELTS Academic Writing Band Descriptors Find the official writing band descriptor for writing task 1 and 2 here: IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 IELTS Academic Writing Task 2
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Chinese and Japanese learners often leave out the definite and indefinite articles when they write in English. Why is this? Well, it’s rather simple, their languages don’t have articles, so it is tricky for them to remember to include them in English. However, this problem, unlike other grammar mistakes, is easy to fix.
Generally speaking, in order for an intermediate and advanced learner of a language to correct a grammar mistake, they need to be aware that they make the mistake and then they need to deliberately practice to correct the error. In the case mentioned above, i.e. learners forgetting to include articles, I advise them to read through every essays after they finish writing and find all the nouns in the text and then to make sure they have included the appropriate article (unless of course it is not necessary, e.g. uncountable nouns). If you make grammar mistakes and want to correct them, it is important not to focus on more than one grammatical error at a time because this will drastically increase your chances to actually correct the mistake. Usually, after several weeks of deliberate practice, you will be able to avoid the mistake you were struggling with. If this problem is familiar to you and you are wondering how you can correct the mistakes you make, let me know and I will give you advice on how you can try to correct it. A sample essay of a student and my corrections for a better score
Writing Task 2: More children in developed countries are becoming overweight. This is a serious problem for wealthy countries. Discuss causes and effects of this problem. Provide examples. ANSWER OF STUDENT: It is argued that young generation of well off and successful countries is suffering from the excess weight gaining issue. In my perception an easy access to junk foods and the busy schedules of working parents are the main causes of this problem which lend the children nothing but long term health problems. First of all, the availability of fast foods is the main reason which contributes to this issue. The food items: pizza, pasta, burgers and hot dogs hold a special allure for the children of all ages. And indubitably it has raised the graph of health problems to a large extent. For instance, in America children are becoming fat and lethargic because they intake a lot of oily and processed food like potato chips and french fries. On the other hand, the fact can not be denied that the hectic work routines of the parents also lead their offsprings to grab whatever unhealthy they want to satisfy their hunger. Unlike the past times when mothers supposed to remain at home to take care of their young ones, women now are equally busy in making money because it has become harder to make both ends meet for a single person of the family. A research carried out by California University throws light on the fact that the children of professional parents become drastically ill and prone to various diseases as compare to the offsprings of a single bread earners where father works and mother stays home to look after their little one as they think the upbringing of their children is paramount. To recapitulate, it is crystal clear that the easily attainable junk food and the bustling routines of guardians compel adolescents to eat unhealthy, that is why the fitness level of successful and rich countries is degrading at an alarming rate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Score: Task Achievement: 7.5 / Coherence and Cohesion: 6.5 / Lexical Resources: 6.0 / Grammatical Range and Accuracy: 6.0 = Overall: 6.5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Comment: Too many lexical and grammatical errors. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMPROVED VERSION: It can be argued that child obesity in developed countries is on the rise and is becoming an issue of concern. I believe that the easy access to junk food and the busy schedules of working parents are the two main causes of this problem which leads to long-term health problems for their children. First of all, the availability of fast food is the main reason contributing to this issue. Food like pizza, pasta, burgers and hot dogs are favourite dishes for children of all ages. And undoubtedly this has led to a big rise in the number of children with health problems. For instance, in developed countries like America or many European countries as well, children are becoming obese and lethargic because they consume a lot of oily and processed food like crisps and chips. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that the hectic work routines of parents also play a part in this which often leads their offspring to grab whatever unhealthy food is in front of them to satisfy their hunger. Unlike in the past, when mothers remained at home to take care of their young ones, women now are equally busy in providing for the family because it has become harder to make ends meet with just one income. A research carried out by California University shines light on the fact that the children of households where both parents work are at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill and prone to various diseases than the children of a one income household where the father works and the mother stays at home to look after their little ones, as they consider the upbringing of their children to be paramount. To summarise, it is fairly obvious that the easy access to junk food and the bustling routines of parents condemn children to eat unhealthily, that is why the number of obese children in wealthier countries is increasing an alarming rate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SCORE: Task Achievement: 7.5 / Coherence and Cohesion: 6.5 / Lexical Resources: 7.5 / Grammatical Range and Accuracy: 8.0 = Overall: 7.5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ COMMENT: You could go into more detail about the effects of child obesity for countries, for example higher health care costs, less productivity in the workforce, etc. Send an email to [email protected] to register for your place on the free trial sessions.
************************************************************************************************************ The first two free trial sessions are at the following dates and times: Session #1: Saturday, 16th March 2019, 10:00-11:00 (Greenwich Mean Time / UK) Session #2: Saturday, 16th March 2019, 18.00-19:00 (Greenwich Mean Time / UK) ************************************************************************************************************ My name is David. I have been teaching English/EFL for 13 years and have been preparing students for the IELTS Academic test since 2016 with all of them achieving their target score. I am planning to offer lessons for large groups in the future and want to test this approach beforehand. Therefore I am looking for volunteers for the free sessions. For information about how your data is used, please refer to the privacy and cookie policy on my website. It would be great to welcome you as one of my students in the future. |
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