How To Write an Effective

Introduction For IELTS Writing Task 2

By Tong Truong - khongphailabacsi

Before you read:

- This text is one of the many lessons that I include in my Writing - Speaking
Course. So that’s why there’s an ad for it above this text.
- Like a lot of other teachers, I used to be a student. The following text-lesson
comes from the ‘British and American Literature’ lectures that I attended in the
USA and consultation with some IELTS Examiners. So if this work looks familiar
to you, I myself spent an entire evening writing this.
IELTS Writing Task 2 Introduction

Today, I'll be sharing specific sentences that I recommend to all my students

when they tackle the introduction of their IELTS Writing Task 2.

The beginning of your essay, called the introduction, is the first thing the
examiner reads. It's like the first hello! This part is super important because it
helps the examiner know what your essay will be about. It's like a little sneak
peek that tells them what to expect in the rest of your writing.

You know a film is good if the trailer is good. So this sneak peek is really
important.

I frequently advise my students that having a poor introduction in IELTS Writing

Part 2 is akin to entering the speaking exam and being impolite to the examiner.
Even if you excel in the rest of the essay, an unhappy examiner is less likely to
be pleased, which might result in a lower score. It's like starting off on the wrong
foot – not the best way to make a good impression!

Even with this caution, numerous proficient students still end up creating
introductions that contain a few typical issues.

What are these few typical issues

1. Why ‘Nowadays’?
Many of these essays kick off with phrases like 'Nowadays...' or 'In modern life...'
followed by general information about the topic. In my view, this is the least
favorable way to begin. Always keep in mind that your goal is to address the
question directly, not to provide general information about the topic.

2. Where is your point?

The thesis statement is the most important sentence in your essay, not just for
task 2, but for every essay in your life that you will ever write.
So why do you leave your point out of an essay where you are supposed to talk
about your opinion?
-> Not including one will lose you marks in several different ways. I will tell you
more about this below.

3. What are you going to do with the essay?

If you fail to include a sentence that outlines the main points of your essay, the
examiner won't have a clear idea of what you're going to discuss in the rest of
your essay. This can also lead to a loss of marks. I'll guide you on how to craft an
outline sentence in the following section.

4. Why bother to write a ‘hook’?

Keep in mind that the IELTS exam is not the same as a university essay. There
are no additional points awarded for being interesting; in fact, maintaining a
straightforward approach is likely to be more beneficial. This approach will steer
you away from using overly embellished or "flowery" language.

5. Use your tone correctly

Be aware of your audience – in this case, you are expected to write in an
academic style.

Just for your information, so far I have not written in an academic tone, but
rather a ‘witty’ tone. The feeling you get when you read is called a ‘tone’.

Good and Bad Examples (I learned this from an IELTS Examiner so if it’s
similar to any work online, that’s probably the original example).

Question: There is a good deal of evidence that increasing car use is

contributing to global warming and having other undesirable effects on
peopleʼs health and well-being. To what extent do you agree or disagree
with this statement?
Good Introduction
Rising global temperatures and human health and fitness issues are often viewed
as being caused by the expanding use of automobiles. This essay agrees that
increasing use of motor vehicles is contributing to rising global temperatures and
certain health issues. Firstly, this essay will discuss the production of greenhouse
gasses by vehicles and secondly, it will discuss other toxic chemicals released by
internal combustion engines.

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
peopleʼs 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 doesnʼt include a thesis statement or
outline statement.

If your introductions resemble what we've just discussed, don't stress. It's
common for many of my students to write introductions like this when they begin
in my class. The structure I'm about to share has consistently proven to be a
valuable tool, helping them address these issues and compose highly effective
introductions.

Structure of a Good Introduction

If you follow this plan, you'll not only get better scores but also finish your
introductions more quickly during the exam. With enough practice, writing intros
will get easier, and you can do them in just a few minutes. This way, you'll have
more time to focus on the main part of your essay, where you can get lots of
marks.

An IELTS writing task 2 opinion essay should have three sentences and these
three sentences should be:
1. Paraphrase question
2. Thesis statement
 3. Outline statement

1. Paraphrase the question:

In my Writing and Speaking Course, I will cover the definition of
paraphrasing, 6 paraphrasing techniques, how and when to use those
techniques, etc. It will take roughly 2 hours so for the sake of time, I will
just demonstrate to you how I personally paraphrase the question.

Question: There is a good deal of evidence that increasing car use is

contributing to global warming and having other undesirable effects on
peopleʼs health and well-being.

Paraphrase: Rising global temperatures and human health and fitness

issues are often viewed as being caused by the expanding use of
automobiles.

The synonyms Iʼve used are:

Increasing- expanding
Car use- use of automobiles
Global warming- rising global temperatures
Peopleʼs health and well-being- human health and fitness

You can notice that I didn’t use a synonym for every single word in the
question. That is just simply not viable (even well-educated native speakers
probably can not do it). Rather, I just switched the placement of the
information, i.e. I put the second information first, and vice versa.

So, by doing this, I've shown the examiner that I can rephrase ideas and
use a variety of words. These are two things the examiner is checking for,
and you'll get points for including them. It's a good idea to practice this
skill with previous exam questions.

2. Thesis statement
The MOST IMPORTANT sentence in the essay. It's like summing up how
you feel about the whole topic in just one sentence. I usually explain it to
my students as a way to show the examiner that you really get what the
question is about and that your essay will be clear and make sense.

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.

You should start your thesis statement with:

This essay agrees that….. or this essay disagrees that….. (Opinion essays)

The main cause(s) of this issue is….. (Causes and solutions)

The principal advantage(s) is (xxxxx) and the main disadvantage is

(xxxxxx). (Advantages and disadvantages).

For a discussion (of two points of view) essay you should state both
points of view clearly.