IELTSGeneralTrainingWritingOverviewteachersnotes

Description AnactivitywhichusesthehandbookandasamplewritingpapertointroducetheWriting paper Timerequired: Additional materials required: Aims: 30minutes page9ofIELTShandbook

togivestudentsanoverviewoftheGeneralTrainingWritingpaper.

Procedure 1. AskstudentstosharewiththeclasswhattheyknowabouttheGeneralTraining Writingpaper.Explainthatyouwillacceptanyinformationatthisstage,whetheritis correctorincorrect,andthattheymustdecideifitiscorrectlater.Writetheirideasin noteformontheboardunderthreeheadings:thepaperasawhole,task1andtask 2. 2. Handoutthesamplepapertohalftheclassandthehandbookpage9aboutGeneral TrainingWritingtotheotherhalf.Askstudentstolookthroughtheirsamplepaperor handbookpageanddiscusswiththeirpartnerwhichtasktheythinkwouldbeeasier forthemandwhy. 3. Putstudentsintopairswithonepartnerfromeachhalfoftheclass.Handoutthe worksheet.Studentscompleteitintheirpairs,sharingtheinformationtheyeach have. 4. Wholeclasscheckanddiscussionofworksheet. 5. Askstudentstocorrectanywronginformationontheboard,andaddanymissing informationsothatthereisacompletesummaryontheboard.

UCLES2009.Thismaterialmaybephotocopied(withoutalteration)anddistributedforclassroomuseprovidednochargeismade.Forfurther informationseeourTermsofUseathttp://www.teachers.cambridgeESOL.org/ts/legalinfo

IELTSGeneralTraining Writing Overviewteachersnotes

www.teachers.cambridgeesol.org Page1of4

IELTSGeneralTrainingWritingOverviewanswerkeys
KeytoClassroomActivity 1. Candidateschoosewhichtasktheywouldliketoanswer. Falsetherearetwotasksandtheymustcompletebothofthem. 2. Task1isalwaysapersonalletter. True.Thelettermaybeinformal,semiformalorformalbutitisalwayspersonal. 3. Task2isapieceofdiscursivewriting True.Candidateshavetodiscussatopicbywritingageneralcomposition. 4. Tasktwoinstructionsarealwaysthesame. False.Theinstructionsmaybetodiscussthetopicbyprovidinggeneralfactual information,outliningaproblemandpresentingasolution,justifyinganopinion,or evaluatingideasandevidence. 5. Bothtaskshavetobeatleast200words. False.Task1mustbeatleast150words.Task2mustbeatleast250words. Answerswhichareshorterthanthiswillbepenalised. 6. Bothtasksaremarkedaccordingtothesamecriteria. False.Threeofthecriteriaarethesameforbothtasks: CoherenceandCohesiontheclarityandfluencyofthemessage LexicalResourcetherangeofvocabulary GrammaticalRangeandAccuracyhowaccurateandvariedthegrammaris Butoneisdifferent: Task1:TaskAchievementhowappropriately,accuratelyandrelevantlythe responsemeetstherequirementsofthetask Task2:TaskResponsehowfullyandrelevantlytheresponseisexpressed, developedandsupportedinrelationtothequestionorstatement. 7. Theexaminerassesseseachtaskseparately. True. 8. Task2isworthmoremarksthantask1. True.Candidatesshoulddividethetimeaccordingly,spendinglongeronTask2 (approx.40minutes)thanonTask1(20minutes). 9. Candidatesmustanswertask1first. False.Candidatescananswereithertaskfirst.Theymustwritethemonseparate pagesoftheanswerbookletandclearlynumberthem. 10. Candidatesneedtowriteaddressesintask1. False.Allotherstandardletterfeatures,e.g.openingandclosingexpressions, paragraphing,shouldbeincludedexceptforaddresses.

UCLES2009.Thismaterialmaybephotocopied(withoutalteration)anddistributedforclassroomuseprovidednochargeismade.Forfurther informationseeourTermsofUseathttp://www.teachers.cambridgeESOL.org/ts/legalinfo

IELTSGeneralTraining Writing Overviewanswerkeys

www.teachers.cambridgeesol.org Page2of4

11. Candidatesshouldaddtheirownexamplesintask2. True.Itisessentialthatcandidatesincludetheirownexamplestosupporttheirideas intask2. 12. Candidatesmustwritetheiranswersintheanswerbooklet. True.Candidatescanwritenotesonthequestionpaperbuttheactualanswersmust beintheanswerbooklet.

UCLES2009.Thismaterialmaybephotocopied(withoutalteration)anddistributedforclassroomuseprovidednochargeismade.Forfurther informationseeourTermsofUseathttp://www.teachers.cambridgeESOL.org/ts/legalinfo

IELTSGeneralTraining Writing Overviewanswerkeys

www.teachers.cambridgeesol.org Page3of4

IELTSGeneralTrainingWritingOverviewStudentsWorksheet
HowmuchdoyouknowaboutIELTSGeneralTrainingWriting? Readthesestatementsandanswertrueorfalseforeachone.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Candidateschoosewhichtasktheywouldliketoanswer. Task1isalwaysapersonalletter. Task2isapieceofdiscursivewriting. Task2instructionsarealwaysthesame. Bothtaskshavetobeatleast200words. Bothtasksaremarkedaccordingtothesamecriteria. Theexaminerassesseseachtaskseparately. Task2isworthmoremarksthantask1. Candidatesmustanswertask1first. Candidatesneedtowriteaddressesintask1. Candidatesshouldaddtheirownexamplesintask2. Candidatesmustwritetheiranswersintheanswerbooklet.

UCLES2009.Thismaterialmaybephotocopied(withoutalteration)anddistributedforclassroomuseprovidednochargeismade.Forfurther informationseeourTermsofUseathttp://www.teachers.cambridgeESOL.org/ts/legalinfo

IELTSGeneralTraining Writing OverviewStudents Worksheet

www.teachers.cambridgeesol.org Page4of4