Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ibrahim
Module 0
In this module:
Question Analysis
Planning
How to write introductions that impress the examiner
How to write fully developed supporting paragraphs
How to write an effective conclusion
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The Writing Task 2 of the IELTS test requires you to write at least
250 words. You will be presented with a topic and will be tested on your
ability to respond by giving and justifying an opinion, discussing the topic,
summarizing details, outlining problems, identifying possible solutions and
supporting what you write with reasons, arguments and relevant examples
from your own knowledge or experience.
Answer the Write an essay that is clear and Use words that are both Produce complex sentences.
question being easy to understand. appropriate and precise.
asked. (coherence)
Answer all parts of Ideas are logically organized. Use a range of vocabulary. Use a range of grammatical
the question. (Cohesion) structures.
Make your Link ideas, sentences and Use topic specific words Produce error-free sentences.
position (opinion) paragraphs together. accurately.
clear and support (Cohesion)
it with relevant,
well-developed
ideas.
Advanced Grammar and Vocabulary for IELTS Asmaa M. Ibrahim
1-Question Analysis
Question type
Understand and analyze any question
2- Planning
Idea generation
Structure planning
Vocabulary
3-Introduction
5- Conclusion
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1. Question Analysis
You must first understand the question to know exactly what the examiner is
looking for. One of the biggest mistakes students make is not answering the
question properly. If you do not answer the question fully, you can’t score
higher than a Band 5.
In order to do this, you must first identify the question type, then identify the
keywords in the question and finally identify the instructions words in order to
find out what the examiner wants you to do with the question.
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages and give your own opinion
Global warming is one of the biggest threats humans face in the 21st
Century and sea levels are continuing to rise at alarming rates.
What problems are associated with this and what are some possible
solutions
Computers are being used more and more in education. Some people say
that this is a positive trend, while others argue that it is leading to negative
consequences.
Discuss both sides of this argument and then give your own opinion.
Advanced Grammar and Vocabulary for IELTS Asmaa M. Ibrahim
Each essay will be about a general topic and we must identify this first.
Give reasons for your answers and include any relevant examples from
your own knowledge or experience.
These words define the question and tell you which particular part of the main
topic the question would like you to discuss and what the examiner is looking
for. They often give an opinion or qualify the statement in some way.
Give reasons for your answers and include any relevant examples from
your own knowledge or experience.
So as you can see, we should only include things in our essay that are
relevant to the words highlighted above. If we discuss anything else, such as
how the internet helps us study, how it is dangerous for children, the history of
the internet or how the internet is used for entertainment, then you are not
being relevant.
Note: write about the micro-topic words, not the topic in general.
The next stage is looking to see what the examiner wants us to do. They
could ask us to give an opinion, or evaluate the advantages and
disadvantages or present problems and solutions.
Give reasons for your answers and include any relevant examples from
your own knowledge or experience.
We can clearly see that this is an agree or disagree question and we therefore
must follow this format or we will lose marks. We should also give reasons
and include some relevant examples.
II-Planning
This simply means knowing the 10 common topics that come up in the exam
and learning some vocabulary associated with these repeated topics. The
wider your vocabulary the easier it will be for you to think of ideas.
Health
Environment
Education
Development
Globalization
Public Transport
Criminal Justice
Youth Crime
Technology
Government Spending
2-Brainstorming
Brainstorming is basically thinking of as many ideas as possible relevant to your topic. The
technique involves putting keywords in the middle of a page and then writing down as many
ideas associated with that idea as possible.
The problem of this technique: Firstly, some students spend too much time on this stage and try
to think of too many ideas. Secondly, because they are thinking very generally, their ideas are
not relevant. It then takes extra time, which you don’t have in the exam, to sort out the relevant
from the irrelevant ideas.
3-Mind Mapping
Advanced Grammar and Vocabulary for IELTS Asmaa M. Ibrahim
Some people love this method, because it represents how their brain is working and allows them
to organize their thoughts. It is much more organized than simply brainstorming and can be done
very quickly once you have practiced a few times with different questions.
A good technique is to place the keywords in the middle and then place the micro-keywords on
the branches.
The only disadvantage to this method is that some students spend too much time creating the
perfect mind map. There are no points for creating beautiful mind maps; they are only there to
help you with ideas so do it quickly.
4- 5 Questions Method
This method uses who/what/why/where/how question words in order to generate ideas. This
works best for people who think very logically and also know a little bit about the topic already.
In some countries, young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between
finishing high school and starting university studies.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for young people who decide to do this.
Why- to gain work experience, to experience life in different countries, to understand different
cultures, to make money before going to university, lazy, not mature.
Where- tourist destinations, developing countries, local business, internship in big company.
Advanced Grammar and Vocabulary for IELTS Asmaa M. Ibrahim
How- save money, permission from parents and university, apply for internship/job, travel to
inexpensive countries.
So as you can see, in a couple of minutes we have generated many ideas by asking ourselves just
three of the five questions. These ideas are much more than we need to complete the task, so
always remember to choose the ones you feel comfortable writing about after you generate your
ideas.
The method is simple. I ask students to imagine they are sitting with their friend or family
member in a coffee shop and they ask your opinion. In an exam there is a lot of pressure on you
and you often find it difficult to think, but if you were in a relaxing environment with a friend
you would have no problem giving your opinion.
To think of more ideas, you just imagine that your friend has the opposite feelings to you about
the topic and write their ideas down.
Your friend- ‘Do you think it’s a good idea that young people take a year off between school and
university to work or travel?’
You- ‘Yes. Many young people are not mature enough to go to university at 18 and travelling or
working will help them mature. Working for a year could also allow them to save money and
gain valuable work experience. If they go travelling, they will get to experience different
cultures.
2-Structure Planning
Introduction
Sentence 3- Example
Sentence 3- Example
Conclusion
3-Vocabulary
One of the biggest mistakes is repeating the same words especially key
words from the question.
For example:
The introduction is the first part of the essay the examiner will read and it will
give him a good first impression of what to expect in the rest of the essay.
Common Problems
1-Talking too generally about the topic.
Most of these essays start off with ‘Nowadays……’ or ‘In modern life….’
followed by general information about the topic. In my opinion, this is the worst
start you can possibly make. Remember that you are supposed to answer the
question not write generally about the topic.
This is the most important sentence in the essay. Not including one will lose
you marks in several different ways.
If you don’t include a sentence outlining what your essay will say, the
examiner doesn’t really know what you are going to write about in the rest of
your essay. This will also lose you marks.
Remember this is an IELTS exam, not a university essay. There are no extra
points for being interesting, in fact being boring will probably help you. This
will help you avoid ‘flowery’ language.
Advanced Grammar and Vocabulary for IELTS Asmaa M. Ibrahim
Good Introduction
Rising global temperatures and human health and fitness issues are often
viewed as being caused by the expanding use of automobiles. ( paraphrase)
This essay agrees that increasing use of motor vehicles is contributing to
rising global temperatures and certain health issues.( Thesis statement)
Firstly, this essay will discuss the production of greenhouse gases by vehicles
and secondly, it will discuss other toxic chemicals released by internal
combustion engines.( outline)
Bad Introduction
Nowadays, cars are a very popular way of getting around. Day by day many
more people drive cars around, but others feel that they cause global
warming. Global warming is one of the most serious issues in modern life.
They also affect people’s health and well-being which is also a serious issue.
As you can see the bad example talks about the topic very generally, copies
words and phrases from the question and doesn’t include a thesis statement
or outline statement.
1. Paraphrase question
2. Thesis statement
3. Outline statement
1-Paraphrase Question
Paraphrasing means stating the question again, but with different words so
that it has the same meaning. We do this by using synonyms and flipping the
order of the sentences around.
Paraphrase: Rising global temperatures and human health and fitness issues
are often viewed as being caused by the expanding use of automobiles.
The synonyms :
Increasing- expanding
As you can see, I then switched the order of the sentence around.
2-Thesis Statement
Advanced Grammar and Vocabulary for IELTS Asmaa M. Ibrahim
This is the most important sentence in your essay. This is your main idea and
it is how you feel about the whole issue in one sentence. It tells the examiner
that you have understood the question and will lead to a clear and coherent
essay.
Thesis statement: This essay agrees that increasing use of motor vehicles is
contributing to rising global temperatures and certain health issues.
It is always just one sentence long so you will have to practice summing up
your opinion in one sentence. It should also address the micro-keywords and
not the topic in general.
This essay totally agrees that…. or this essay totally disagrees that…..
(Opinion essays)
Advantages and disadvantages: this essay will first discuss the (main
advantage(s)) followed by an analysis of the (main disadvantage(s)).
Problem and Solution: This essay will analyze the principal/main problem(s)
and offer solutions to this issue.
For a discussion (of two points of view) essay you should state both points
of view clearly.
3-Outline Statement
Now that you have paraphrased the question and told the examiner what you
think in your thesis sentence, you are now going to tell the examiner what you
will discuss in the main body paragraphs. In other words, you will outline what
the examiner will read in the rest of the essay. This should be one sentence
only.
Example:
You just look at your main body paragraphs and wrote about what they
contain. You should have only one main idea per paragraph. In this essay, I
have only two main body paragraphs, so I only need to say two things in the
outline statement.
1. Introduction
2. Supporting Paragraph 1
3. Supporting Paragraph 2
4. Conclusion
These paragraphs take up most of your essay and are therefore where most
marks are won and lost. Write two good supporting paragraphs and you are
most of the way to getting a good final mark.
Advanced Grammar and Vocabulary for IELTS Asmaa M. Ibrahim
Look at the following examples and think about what the examiner wants.
Which one is a good essay and which one is not?
Question- Some parents think that childcare centres provide the best
services for children of pre-school age. Other working parents think that
family members such as grandparents will be better carers for their kids.
Sample 2– Grandparents are the best people to look after children for very
obvious reasons. Grandparents really love their grandchildren and would
never harm them. Also, the children really love their grandparents and feel
comfortable with them. Finally, grandparents have lots of experience taking
care of children because they are old and looked after children for many years
themselves.
Sample 1 has one main argument- parents prefer grandparents because they
trust them. They have stated this very clearly in the first sentence and then
explained why this is, in the second sentence. They have also used a very
specific example to support their idea. This is exactly what the examiner
wants.
Advanced Grammar and Vocabulary for IELTS Asmaa M. Ibrahim
Sample 2 has many different arguments and most of them are very general.
They have not been extended with explanations and lack examples. This is
exactly what the examiner does not want.
The very first sentence in your supporting paragraph should be the topic
sentence. Each paragraph should have one main idea only and the topic
sentence tells the reader what this idea is. This makes your paragraph and
the whole essay clearer and easier to read. You will gain marks for coherence
in the IELTS writing test if you do this. Think of them as signposts that direct
the reader to where you want to go.
For:
Fairness
Equality
Prevent discrimination
Women outperform men in many jobs
Women outperform men in many schools and university subjects
Against:
Advanced Grammar and Vocabulary for IELTS Asmaa M. Ibrahim
I support the ‘for’ category so I am going to pick two of those reasons and
write topic sentences for them. You should always pick the ideas you know
most about, or in other words, can explain and support with examples.
You should assume that the reader has no knowledge of this subject at all and
you need to explain what you mean in order for them to understand.
There are certain phrases we can use to explain our ideas such as:
Note: Explanations should relate specifically to the question. They should not
generally explain what the idea is; they should explain how the idea answers
the question.
Make sure you read the question again before you write a topic sentence or
explanation.
4-Supporting Examples
The two main problems here are not being able to think of examples and
examples not being specific enough.
In the IELTS test, if you can’t think of a good example, make one up.
Example 1- For example, lots of women fail to get jobs solely on the basis of
their gender.
Example 2– For example, many business women in Asia find it difficult to get
jobs as CEOs, despite having the same qualifications as men.
Advanced Grammar and Vocabulary for IELTS Asmaa M. Ibrahim
Example 3– For example, in 2014 it was reported in The Times that only 9 of
Singapore’s top 100 companies have female CEOs, despite making up 50%
of the total workforce.
Example 2 is much better but again ‘business women in Asia’ is very general
and does not really support our argument because of this.
The conclusion is the easiest paragraph to write because in many ways you
are just using ideas you have already mentioned in your introduction and main
body paragraphs.
Linking Phrases
First you should start with a linking phrase, but some are better than others .
Here are some examples:
Finally
In a nutshell
In general
In conclusion,
To conclude,
Finally isn’t really suitable because it indicates that you are making a final
point and therefore a new idea. Finally belongs in the main body of your
essay, not the conclusion.
In general tells the reader you are going to talk generally about a topic. This is
not what we are going to do in our conclusion and we should therefore not use
it.
In conclusion and to conclude are the only two linking phrases you should use
to start your conclusion. They tell the reader exactly what the paragraph is
about and they are formal.
Introduction
It is argued that students should be taught real life skills, such as how to look
after money. This essay agrees that they should be part of the curriculum. The
essay will first discuss how everyday competencies benefit people later in life
and then talk about the dangers of not being taught how to manage money at
an early age.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this essay supports the idea that teenagers ought to be taught
functional subjects like financial planning because it helps them in adulthood
and a lack of education related to these topics can have serious
consequences.
should- ought to
students- teenagers