WRITING

TASK 2
Cause-effect essay

Composed by: Siska Sembiring

 Instruction
Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9nrTXOdiII&t=132s

Answer the following questions:

1. How were the paragraphs divided?
2. In the IP, how many sentences were produced? What were they?
3. What were three things you needed to determine?
4. What was the purpose to use despite in the intro?
5. What was the ToS/ statement in BP1? Was it general or specific? How
many ideas?
6. What was the explanation in the BP1?
7. Was there an example in BP1? What was it?
8. Were there linking words in BP1? What was the purpose?
9. Was there any MC (mini conclusion)?
10. What did the CP contain?
11. What should you not put in CP?
Task response
Coherence and Cohesion
Lexical Resource
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
ANALYZING
QUESTIONs
CAUSE - EFFECT ESSAY
IP IP
(INTRODUCTORY
(INTRODUCTORY
PARA)
PARA)
 Let’s REVIEW
our LAST MEETING’S lesson
Task Achievement Key Points

 Answer all parts of the question

 Present relevant ideas
 Fully explain these ideas
 Support ideas with relevant, specific examples
WHAT DO DIFFERENT BANDS MEAN? BAND 6, 7, 8

18
PROMPT An increasing number of people are
choosing to watch international television
 WHAT IS THE shows and films. Less nationally produced
RED? entertainment is being made each year.
 WHAT IS THE
BLUE? What do you think is causing this trend and
 WHAT IS THE what are the potential effects for national
GREEN? identity?
IP (INTRODUCTORY PARA)
IP S1: In the early days of television, most of
the programmes that appeared in our
screens were made locally.
 WHAT IS THE
RED?
S2: Since the arrival of cable television and
 WHAT IS THE the internet, there have been more choice,
BLUE? and internationally successful shows, such
 WHAT IS THE as The Big Bang Theory, are enjoyed all
GREEN? around the world.

S3: This essay will argue that this is

because of financial reasons and suggests
that we should be concerned.
IP
PRACTICE 1
PROMPT In many countries, young people are finding it
harder to get work.
 WHAT IS THE
RED? What do you think are the main causes of this?
 WHAT IS THE
BLUE?
What effect might this have in the future?
 WHAT IS THE
GREEN?
PROMP
T
In many countries,
young people are finding
it harder to get work.

What do you think are

the main causes of this?

What effect might this

have in the future?
BP1 (1ST BODY PARA)
IP S1: The main reason why national television companies buy
more and more shows internationally is cost.

 WHAT IS S2: American TV companies often insist on selling their products

THE RED? in packages.
 WHAT IS
THE S3: When a local company wants to buy the current blockbuster,
BLUE? they often have to buy several poorer quality shows with it.
 WHAT IS
S4: This leads to even more content on our screens because
THE once the TV programmes have been paid for, it makes sense to
GREEN? pay them.

S5: It is also much cheaper to buy ready-made television shows

than to produce them.
BP1
PRACTICE 2
PROMP
T
Write your BP1
In many countries,
young people are finding
it harder to get work. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1
EEMqxh32Ws-9OMb__7wREjAbIzeRI
Jp48Nfhv6WGIqs/edit?usp=sharing
What do you think are
the main causes of this?

What effect might this

have in the future?
BP2 (BODY PARA 2)
IP S1: The impact of this is mixed.

S2: Because of high sales, a lot of American television shows

 WHAT IS have a lot of budgets, and can afford top-quality writers, actors,
THE RED? and special effects.
 WHAT IS
THE S3: However, there is a need for locally produced talent and
BLUE? variety, and only local television companies can produce that.
 WHAT IS
THE S4: Some countries have started to support their local films
and television industries, and it is not uncommon to see the
GREEN?
specialized products such as Scandinavian thrillers or beautiful
Iranian films in other countries.
BP2
PRACTICE 3
PROMP
T
In many countries,
Write your BP2
young people are finding
it harder to get work. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1
EEMqxh32Ws-9OMb__7wREjAbIzeRI
Jp48Nfhv6WGIqs/edit?usp=sharing
What do you think are
the main causes of this?

What effect might this

have in the future?
CP (CONCLUDING PARA)
CP S1: In conclusion, the internationalization of
television and films is just part of a much larger
globalization.
 WHAT IS
THE
ORANGE? S2: We need to find ways to build local and national
talent within this new world order if we are going to
enjoy all the talent around the globe.
 WHAT IS
THE
PURPLE?
CP
PRACTICE 4
PROMP
T
In many countries,
young people are finding
it harder to get work.

What do you think are

the main causes of this?

What effect might this

have in the future?
The four criteria you will be
marked on:

• Task Response

• Coherence and Cohesion

• Lexical Resource

• Grammatical Range and Accuracy

 TASK
RESPONSE
 Task Response
Band 5 Band 6 Band 7 Band 8
addresses the task addresses all partsaddresses all parts sufficiently
only partially; the of the task of the task addresses all parts
format may be although some of the task
inappropriate in parts may be more presents a clear
places fully covered than position throughout presents a well-
others the response developed
expresses a response to the
position but the presents a relevant presents, extends question with
development is not position although and supports main relevant, extended
always clear and the conclusions ideas, but there and supported
there may be no may become may be a tendency ideas
conclusions drawn unclear or to overgeneralise
repetitive and/or supporting
presents some ideas may lack
main ideas but presents relevant focus
these are limited main ideas but
and not sufficiently some may be
developed; there inadequately
may be irrelevant developed/unclear
detail
The examiner will be looking for your ability
to answer the question properly. What does
this actually mean?

 If we look at the marking criteria above we notice that

essays in bands 6, 7 and 8 fully address all parts of the
question. This means that if you do not fully address all
parts of the question you will get a band 5 or below.
 This means that you should read the questions very
carefully and make sure you cover everything it asks
 EXAMPLE 1

More and more people nowadays have to compete with younger

people for the same job.

What problems does this cause?

What are some possible solutions?

There are two different things we need to talk about- ‘problems’

and ‘solutions’. If we don’t include these in our answer we cannot
score higher than band 5 for task achievement.

Also, if you talked about ‘causes’ instead of ‘problems’ you would

also score 5 or below because this is not what the question asks you
to talk about.
 EXAMPLE 1
Some people say that the best way to improve public health is by
increasing the number of sports facilities. Others, however, say that
this would have little effect on public health and that other
measures are required.

Discuss both of these views and give your own opinion.

This question requires us to do three things:

1. Discuss the increasing number of sports facilities to improve public
health
2. Discuss the view that sports facilities would have little effect on
public health
3. Give our own opinion

If we don’t do all 3 of these we cannot score above a 5

for task achievement
The difference between these scores
is about how we support our ideas
with explanations and examples.
BAND 6
BAND 7
BAND 8
Task Achievement Key Points

 Answer all parts of the question

 Present relevant ideas
 Fully explain these ideas
 Support ideas with relevant, specific
examples
COHERENCE
AND
COHESION
 COHERENCE AND COHESION
Band 5 Band 6 Band 7 Band 8
answers either fail answers tend to answers use a candidates make
to use any of these use linking phrases good range of no mistakes when
devices or use but their use is not these linking using cohesive
them inaccurately. appropriate or phrases effectively devices. They are
Some band 5 there is too much but there might be used accurately
answers use these repetition of the some over or and there is no
devices but they same phrase. Try underuse. overuse.
overuse them. You to vary your
don’t get any phrases by using
marks for using synonyms.
them in every
sentence and you
will actually lose
marks for using
them too much.
 COHERENCE
Coherence refers to your ability to be clear and easily understood.

For answers in bands 6, 7 and 8 in this category, all parts are easy to
read and understand. Parts of band 5 answers are not easy to
understand.

This may be because you have lots of grammar mistakes, you have lost
grammatical control of your sentences, the words and sentences are
in a very illogical order or you have used words and phrases that are
not appropriate or accurate.

The examiner will be able to understand all parts of band 6, 7 and 8

answers but the ease of understanding will increase as we go up the
bands.

Band 5 answers tend to have lots of different ideas in each paragraph.

Band 7 and 8 answers have only one idea in each paragraph and
they then use the rest of that paragraph to explain and support that
You can increase your band score by making it very clear to the
examiner what each paragraph is about and then logically organise
each sentence within that paragraph.

At a sentence level, main body paragraphs should follow this structure:

Topic Sentence
Explanation
Example

Example-The best way to improve the health and fitness of the public is
through advertisement campaigns. Many people are unaware of the
health benefits regular exercise and a healthy diet bring and an
advertising campaign could be used to educate people. For example,
the ‘5-a-day’ campaign used in the UK was extremely effective in
getting people to eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

The topic sentence makes it clear to the reader what the main point is
and this is extended with an explanation in the second sentence and a
relevant example in the third. If we were to order these sentences
differently, they would be more difficult to understand.
 COHESION
At a paragraph level, task 2 essay should have:

Introduction
2-3
Main Body Paragraphs
Conclusion

You can further increase your score for coherence by writing an

effective introduction and then linking your points to this
introduction.

Cohesion refers to your ability to link ideas, sentences and

paragraphs together and one of the ways we do this is through the
use of cohesive devices. Cohesive devices are also sometimes called
‘linking devices’ or ‘linking words’. Below are some examples
Coherence and Cohesion Key
Points
 Structure your answers in logical paragraphs
 One main idea per paragraph Include an
introduction and conclusion
 Support main points with an explanation and
then an example
 Use cohesive devices accurately and
appropriately
 Vary your linking phrases using synonyms
Lexical Resource
Lexical resource is just a complicated
name for the words and phrases you use,
or in a word, vocabulary

For example, if we were asked this

question:

Nowadays lots of young people don’t have

a job.

What are the main causes of this?

 Lexical resource
A band 5 answer might say:
Lots of young people don’t have a job because there is no
money. There is no money because countries are not
doing well with money now. For example, countries in
Europe don’t have any money and lots of young people
don’t have jobs.

This candidate has repeated words from the question

because they are not aware of synonyms for words like
‘young people’ and ‘job’. They are also unable to express
their opinion effectively because they don’t know
vocabulary that is specific to the question like
‘unemployment’, ‘recession’, ‘financial crisis’ and
 Lexical resource
A good candidate would use topic-specific vocabulary
to improve the answer like so:

Many of today’s younger generation are unemployed

because of the financial crisis. The financial downturn
caused huge economic problems all over the world. For
example, European nations find themselves with
massive youth unemployment, with over half of 18 to
25-year-olds out of work in countries like Greece.

This answer has basically the same meaning but the

author’s points are clearer and more developed
because of a wide-ranging vocabulary
A good candidate would use topic-specific vocabulary to improve the
answer like so:

Many of today’s younger generation are unemployed because of the

financial crisis. The financial downturn caused huge economic problems all
over the world. For example, European nations find themselves with
massive youth unemployment, with over half of 18 to 25-year-olds out of
work in countries like Greece. This answer has basically the same meaning
but the author’s points are clearer and more developed because of a wide-
ranging vocabulary

Band 6 Band 7 Band 8

answers attempt to use answers have far fewer
lesson common words, of these errors, however,
but there is some some errors are
inaccuracy and there are permitted. The words
some errors with word chosen here are more
formation and spelling. likely to show the use of
correct style and
collocations. There is still
some repetition of words
permitted.
answers have very few
spelling or word
formation errors and use
very appropriate words
to convey meaning
precisely. There is also
very little repetition of
words.
 Lexical resource
It should be noted that the cohesive devices mentioned
above do not contribute to your score for lexical
resource.

Finally, getting a high score for lexical resource is NOT

about including lots of long or complicated words. If
you do this and they are not appropriate and accurate,
you will lose marks.

To get a high band score you do need to use less

common words but these need to be used precisely.
Lexical Resource Key Points

 Try to vary your vocabulary using accurate

synonyms
 Use less common question specific words
that accurately convey meaning
 Check your work for spelling and word
formation mistakes
Grammatical
Range and
Accuracy
In order to understand this section, you should first
appreciate what a ‘complex sentence’ is and
understand and analyse a complex sentence.

A complex sentence does not need to be very long,

complicated or even difficult to write.
 Grammatical Range and
Accuracy
Band 5 Band 6 Band 7 Band 8
In order to understand answers use a mix answers use a answers have
this section, you of ‘simple’ and variety of ‘complex a wide range of
should first appreciate ‘complex structures’ and appropriate
what a ‘complex sentences’ and around 50% of the structures.
sentence’ is and frequent errors still sentences are Most of the
understand and occur when completely error sentences are
analyse a complex attempting ‘complex free completely
sentence. A complex sentences’. The error free
sentence does not majority of
need to be very long, sentences have
complicated or even errors but these
difficult to write and errors rarely stop
my guide on how to the reader
write a complex understanding the
sentence should help points being made
you improve your
score
It should be noted that the more small errors
you make the more likely you are to get a
lower band score, especially if these errors
prevent the reader from understanding what
you have written. You should therefore only
use structures you are comfortable using
and you know are 100% error-free.

Have your writing marked by a teacher and

establish your common errors and fix them.
Grammatical Range Key Points

 Use a variety of complex and simple

sentences
 Use a variety of appropriate structures
 Check your writing for errors
How to Write a
Task 2 Body
Paragraph
Most IELTS task 2 essays follow the same
basic four-paragraph structure:

IP

BP 1
BP 2

CP
 Task Response
Band 5 Band 6 Band 7 Band 8
addresses the task addresses all partsaddresses all parts sufficiently
only partially; the of the task of the task addresses all parts
format may be although some of the task
inappropriate in parts may be more presents a clear
places fully covered than position throughout presents a well-
others the response developed
expresses a response to the
position but the presents a relevant presents, extends question with
development is not position although and supports main relevant, extended
always clear and the conclusions ideas, but there and supported
there may be no may become may be a tendency ideas
conclusions drawn unclear or to overgeneralise
repetitive and/or supporting
presents some ideas may lack
main ideas but presents relevant focus
these are limited main ideas but
and not sufficiently some may be
developed; there inadequately
may be irrelevant developed/unclear
detail
The examiner wants you to respond to the
question with ‘relevant, extended and
supported ideas.’

This means that your ideas must actually

relate, or be linked, specifically to the
question, and then you have to explain what
your ideas mean and then support them
with examples.
Good and Bad
Examples
Can you tell which one is better?
Sample 1
Many parents in full-time employment
prefer to leave their children with
grandparents when they are at work
because they feel their child will be
safer with someone from within the
family circle. In other words, they do
not trust a stranger to look after their
child and feel confident that no harm
will come to the child whilst being
looked after by grandma or grandpa.
For example, a 2013 study from
Cambridge University showed that
62% of working mothers prefer a
member of the immediate family to
provide care when they are at work.
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 stated this clearly in the first sentence
and then explained why it is in the second.
They have also used a very specific example to
support their idea. This is exactly what the
examiner wants.

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.
How to Write a
Topic Sentence
[ToS]
 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.
 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.
 We think of topic sentences in an argument
(agree or disagree) essay by thinking of ideas
about why we support one side or the other.
Let’s look at another question:
Most high-level positions in companies are filled by
men even though the workforce in many developed
countries is more than 50 % female. Companies
should be required to allocate a certain percentage
of these positions to women. Do you agree?

For
• Fairness
• Equality
• Prevent discrimination
• Women outperform men in many
jobs
• Women outperform men in many
schools and university subjects
Against
• Should be based on
merit, not gender
• A few jobs, like
construction, are
better suited to males
Always pick the ideas you know most about, or in other
words, can explain and support them with examples.

TS 1: Women should be allocated a certain percentage of

roles because to not do so, discriminates against them
because of their gender.

TS 2: Females should be given a bigger share of jobs

because women currently outperform males in most
university subjects.

Introduce your ideas clearly.

There is no need to use very advanced language to do
this; stating your position in simple language is all you
need to do.
Explaining Our
Ideas [EXP]
There are certain phrases we can use to explain our ideas, such
as:
 That is to say…. (linking)

 In other words… (linking)

 This is because… (giving reasons)

 The reason is…. (giving reasons)

 As a result…. (describing result)

 As a consequence…. (describing result)

 Therefore…. (describing result)

Use one of these phrases to explain what your topic sentence

means, the reason why, or the result of your topic sentence.
You don’t need to do all three, just one. Make sure that anyone
with no knowledge of the subject understands your main point.
Example 1– Women should be allocated a certain
percentage of roles because not doing so
discriminates against them because of their
gender. As a result, women will be denied jobs,
not because of their intellect or skill, but
simply because of their sex.

Example 2– Females should be given a bigger

share of jobs because women currently
outperform males in most university subjects.
That is to say, those young women are just as
qualified as men, if not more, and should,
therefore, be given at least an equal share in
Supporting our ToS
& Exp(s) with
Examples
Support your paragraph with a relevant example.
Examples give your points more authority and make
your argument stronger.

Two main problems:

not being able to think of examples

examples not being specific enough.

If you can’t think of a good example, make one up. It

is NOT a test of your knowledge; it is a test of your
written English. The examiners will never check the
examples and are only worried about how they
support your ideas. The examiner wants your
examples to be as specific as possible.
The examiner wants your examples to be as specific as
possible. To illustrate this, we will look at 3 examples.

Women should be allocated a certain percentage of roles

because to not do so discriminates against them because of
their gender. As a result, women will be denied jobs, not
because of their intellect or skill, but simply because of their sex.

Example 1-. For example, many women fail to get jobs solely
based on their gender
Example 2– For example, many businesswomen in Asia find it
difficult to get jobs as CEOs, despite having the same
qualifications as men.
Example 3– For example, in 2014, only 9 of Singapore’s top
100 companies have female CEOs, despite making up 50% of
the total workforce.
Example 1 is very general and is not a
satisfactory example.

Example 2 is much better, but again,

‘businesswomen in Asia’ is very general and
does not really support our argument because of
this.

Example 3 is very good because it reports a

specific fact from a specific place (Singapore) at
a specific time (2014).
Putting It All
Together
 ToS [ALWAYS check:
address the question,
relevant to TS, use simple
sentence] The main problem causing traffic
jams is too many cars. When a
 Exp [explain exactly why, city has more vehicles than its
don’t just repeat the ToS; infrastructure was designed for,
come with new information, it leads to congestion. For
no repetition on the vocab, example, Jakarta was designed
use complex sentence] to cope with around 500,000
cars and the city now has over 2
million cars, resulting in chronic
 Ex [give a very specific and
traffic problems.
relevant example, use
synonyms, use complex
sentence]
The main problem causing traffic jams is too many cars.
[WHY DO TOO MANY CARS CAUSE TRAFFIC
JAMS?]

[WELL, BECAUSE…] When a city has more vehicles than

its infrastructure was designed for, it leads to congestion.

[TO GIVE YOU A CLEAR PICTURE, MY DUMB

READERS, HERE’S THE SPECIFIC EXAMPLE..] For
example, Jakarta was designed to cope with around 500,000
cars and the city now has over 2 million cars, resulting in
chronic traffic problems.
Increasing the price of petrol is the best way to
solve the growing traffic and pollution problems.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

•“Towhat extent” [Bahasa Indonesia: sejauh mana]

•You can completely agree, completely disagree, or both
agree and disagree
[ToS]Raising fuel prices is the best option because it would
lower demand. [Exp]This is because the laws of economics
dictate that the higher the price of a commodity, the lower the
consumption of that product and this will lead to fewer
people using vehicles. [Ex]For instance, when the price of
fuel skyrocketed during the oil crisis in the 1970s, there was a
huge reduction in the number of cars on the road.

[ToS]Raising the fuel price would also knock on the price of

goods because they cost more to transport. [Exp]This would
result in people having less money to spend at the pump, thus
reducing the number of cars on the road even further.
[Ex]For example, the higher the food price in a city, the more
likely people are to use public transport, principally because
they can’t afford a car.
Play around with these ideas for the question
“To what extent”

GOOD SOLUTION BUT NOT THE BEST

SHORT-TERM VS LONG-TERM SOLUTION

GIVE FEW VS GREATER IMPACT TO MORE PEOPLE

(VILLAGERS/IN REMOTE AREAS, LOWER-INCOME,
ETC)

HIGHER VS LOWER/MANAGEABLE RISK

MIGHTSOLVE THE PROBLEM BUT RAISE OTHER

PROBLEMS
 Now DO some practice

“Practice makes permanent”