WRITING FOR ACADEMIC

& GENERAL TRAINING

1. Strive for the three C’s: Clarity, Cohesiveness,
Conciseness.
2. Avoid grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.
3. Skip a line between paragraphs, or if you wish, indent the
first line of every paragraph.
4. Illegible handwriting and dirty work will reduce your final
score.
5. You can start with Task One (at least 150 words – graph),
which is 40% of your final band score or Task Two (at least
250 words – essay), which is 60% of your final band score.
6. Use new words in the sentences.
Example: Beating children brutalizes parents, damages the
parent-child relationship and is completely unnecessary. Do
you agree or disagree?
 beating children – corporal punishment
 brutalizes - debases
 damages – injures; harms
 relationship – kinship; family tie
 Task 1
I. Write a report based on graphic information
given. Graphic
information will come in one of five forms:
 a line graph (often two line graphs)
 bar graph (often with three or more
bars)
 pie chart (usually two charts)
 a table (or two or more tables)
 a diagram illustrating a process
(flowchart) or map
II. You have to describe the graph in 150
words or more (but 300 is too much).

III. It is essential to familiarize oneself with

the language appropriate in interpreting
or evaluating graphic information.
(Please see attachments.)

IV. Read, understand and follow the

instruction(s) carefully.
V. Underline the keywords (important
words).

VI. Write down other words/synonyms or

phrases with the same or similar
meanings to the underlined words in the
instruction.
VII. Make an outline.
Introduction
Normally, write 2-3 standard opening sentences
to introduce your report. The first sentence
should describe what the graph is presenting, i.e.
the date, location, what is being described in the
graph. You can get this from the title of the graph
but don’t use the same words. You can also give
a short “overall trend”.

Standard verbs used here are: show(s),

depict(s), illustrate(s) or compare(s).

Do not merely copy the words and sentences

used in the graph. Your work will not be
assessed favorably. Try to create your own
description based on the graphical material.
Usually 10% of your work.
Body

While it is important that you describe the whole graph

fully, this does not mean that you should discuss every
single detail in the graph. There is always too much
information in each graph. You have to divide the graph
into significant portions or chunks. This is what is meant
by “spotting the trends”. The body should contain the
main ideas, trends, observations, or descriptions you want
to elaborate. You will need to decide on the most logical
and clear order to present the material. Line graphs
generally present information in chronological order and
so the most logical order for you to write up the
information would be from earliest to most recent. Bar
graphs, pie charts are organized in different ways and so
you need to decide on the organization of each one.
This is the bulk of your report – around 80%.
Conclusion

Based on the body of your report, the conclusion is

simply a restating of the facts and descriptions you
wrote in the body of your report – albeit in a much
shortened form. You end your report in a relevant
conclusion. Do not introduce new points or add new
data to the conclusion. Since your opinion is not
required, don’t give it. Don’t venture any explanations
which are not evident in the graph.
This is also about 10% of your work.
 Task 2 – Essay Writing
I. Level of Writing Proficiency (True for both tasks.)
A. Present a point of view or give your stand on a
particular issue (usually controversial issues like
cloning, euthanasia, etc.). Often the topic
requires you to discuss an argument or point of
view of general interest.
B. Focus on the topic and avoid irrelevancies.
C. Communicate in a style that is easy to follow
and cohesive
D. Use English accurately and appropriately
(grammar and vocabulary)
E. Structure and cohesion should be evident in
the overall essay, within and between sentences
and within and between paragraphs.
II. Make an outline. There should be a clear movement from
introduction through the points in the body, and on to the
conclusion.

Introduction

Main Idea 1
Examples/Evidences

Main Idea 2
Examples/Evidences

Conclusion
“Out of a country’s health budget, a large
proportion should be diverted from treatment to
spending on health education and preventive
measures.” To what extent do you agree or
disagree with the above statement.

1 .What is this question asking you to do?

2. Do you have to argue from both sides? No
3. Do you have to fully agree or fully disagree?
No. You can make concessions.
4. Where will your examples come from?
Concrete Examples
Introduction should not be long. You may
rephrase but you shouldn’t include
reasons, explanations, justifications,
opinions and examples. These should be
in the body. (30-60 words)
Here are some different techniques for the introduction:
 Explain how you are going to organize your essay.
In this essay I will be presenting my opinions as to why
I think it is suitable to concentrate health spending on
education and prevention rather than on the treatment
of everyday illnesses.

 Make a general statement or ask a question about the

topic. In many countries, controlling health expenditure
is a major problem. The amount spent on health care
goes up each year, but the health of the population
does not improve. Would it be wiser to spend more of
that money on prevention and educating people on
how to take care of themselves?
Set up your point of view which you will
then elucidate. I firmly believe that it would
be better to spend more money in
educating the population on how to take
care of themselves and preventing illness,
even if that is at the expense of current
health budgets.
 Examples of good/bad introductions:
 In my opinion, prevention is much better than cure. By
this, I mean that more money needs to be spent on
programmes to prevent major illnesses and to educate
the public on their dangers and how to avoid them.
(Good – 39 words)
 I do not agree and I will show you why in this essay (Bad
– 13 words)
 It would be wrong to spend more money on prevention
and take the money away from treating people. Does
that mean that people who have been sick for a long
time, suffering cancer for example, will not be able to
have their treatment? And what about AIDS victims?
They need their treatment too. No, I strongly believe that
we must not betray these patients just so we can put up
posters up in doctors’ clinics telling us not to smoke(Bad
– 79 words. Too long and you are giving opinions,
explanations and justifications which should be in the
body.)
 I do not agree that out of a country’s health budget,
a large proportion should be diverted from treatment
to spending on health education and preventive
measures. (Bad – Although only 32 words, the topic
and question was mostly repeated.)

 It would be very easy to claim that trying to educate

people on the health benefits of taking care of
themselves is the way forward in the twenty-first
century. However, here I will explain why I believe
that it would be wrong to take money away from
current health budgets to do this.
Conclusions
It is appropriate in this type of essay to include a short
paragraph which summarises the main ideas you have
examined and possibly includes your own opinions.

Examples of good conclusions:

 I am in favour of providing both the best treatment and

focusing on education and the prevention of diseases.
That problem is that, in order to have all these things, we
have to find a better way of paying for them.
 Overall there are convincing arguments for focusing
more on health education and prevention than on the
traditional method of waiting for people to become ill and
trying to treat them. But there are also strong arguments
in favour of the traditional approach. It will take more
years of debate and research before a final conclusion is
reached.
Introduction
Normally, write 2-3 standard opening sentences to
introduce your report. You can also define, give general
information and give a short answer to the question.
Decide if you are for or against the idea. Usually, it is
best to give both sides because other questions may ask
you to discuss both points of view of the statement –
giving the pros and cons, why you agree or disagree or
the advantages and disadvantages.
Body
This is composed by evidence which supports the point
of the paragraph. You will explain by giving details,
describe, compare, etc. Decide if you are for or against
the idea. Usually, it is best to give both sides (for and
against or advantages and disadvantages of your stand
on a certain issue).
You should be able to support your point of view on a
topic.
Body
This is composed by evidence which supports the point
of the paragraph. You will explain by giving details,
describe, compare, etc. Decide if you are for or against
the idea. Usually, it is best to give both sides (for and
against or advantages and disadvantages of your stand
on a certain issue).
You should be able to support your point of view on a
topic.

Conclusion
Also, usually 2-3 sentences to close your report. You
can summarize and repeat your answer with your final
defense.