IELTS Academic Writing Part One

Compare IELTS Academic Writing Task One answers

Work in groups of two or three. Try to find similarities and differences between your pieces of writing and the processes you went through to write them. (If fewer than two people have done the task, look at different model answers and/ or discuss what you would do if you had that task.)

Use the topics and/ or phrases below (as your teacher tells you) to continue your comparisons.

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Tick off any topics which you have already talked about, then tick off the others as you try to find more similarities and differences connected to those topics.

time spent planning
planning process
how many paragraphs
the topic of each paragraph
number of sentences in the introduction
rephrasing the question
summary sentence in the introduction?
explaining the structure/ organisation of your essay
information in the body
information left out of the body (= in the data but not in the essay)
words at the start of each body paragraph (“Looking at…”, “Turning to…”, etc)
length of each paragraph
final summary paragraph?/ summary sentence?
time spent on the final edit (during the twenty-minute time limit)
changes during the final edit (during the time limit)
total number of words when you reached the time limit
time spent after the twenty-minute time limit
changes after the twenty-minute time limit
total number of words after any extra changes
avoided giving your own opinion?
avoided speculating?
level of formality
linking expressions (“However,…” etc) used
rephrasing (= use of different words and expressions meaning the same thing)
things you compared/ comparisons you made
comparing/ contrasting language you used
changes you described/ trends you described
language you used to describe changes/ trends
language you used to describe different parts of the diagram(s)
language you used to describe positions
things that were easy or difficult about the task

 

 

Useful phrases for comparing and contrasting your writing

Tick off any phrases below which you have already used during your comparing discussion, then tick off as many other phrases below as you can as you continue your discussion. You can discuss the same topics again and/ or new topics.

overall
a great deal …er/ more…
a major similarity/ difference
a slight similarity/ difference
absolutely identical
almost completely different
almost identical/ the same
an additional similarity/ difference
an obvious similarity/ difference
another similarity/ difference
approximately the same
completely different
considerably …er/ more…
exactly the same
extremely similar/ different
fairly similar
far …er/ more…
however
in contrast
more or less the same
much …er/ more…
nearly the same/ identical
practically the same/ identical
slightly …er/ more…
slightly different
somewhat …er/ more…
substantially …er/ more…
substantially different
the main similarity/ difference
the most noticeable similarity/ difference
the most obvious similarity/ different
totally different
very similar/ different
virtually the same/ identical
whereas
while

 

Ask about any phrases above which you don’t understand or couldn’t use.

Comparing/ contrasting language presentation

Longer comparing/ contrasting phrases

Without looking above, try to fill the gaps below with as many phrases as you can. Some words can go in more than one place below. Other words which are not above may also be possible.

_______________________________________________________________ identical

_______________________________________________________________ the same

______________________________________________________________ similar

________________________________________________________________ different

____________________________________________________________ …er/ more…

the _______________________________________________ similarity/ difference

a ____________________________________________________ similarity/ difference

an ____________________________________________________ similarity/ difference

This essay has three paragraphs _____________________ this essay only has one.

 

Longer comparing/ contrasting phrases mixed answers

Use the mixed-up words below to help with the brainstorming task above. Many can go in more than one place, but some matches would be incorrect. Other words not below are also possible, so don’t cross off what you have written unless you are sure it is wrong. 

a great deal                                  absolutely                       additional                         almost

almost completely                       approximately   completely                       considerably

exactly                              extremely                         fairly                                  far

however                                         in contrast                        main                                 major

more or less                                  most noticeable most obvious                  much

nearly                                             obvious              -other                                practically

slight                                               slightly                somewhat                        substantially

totally                                              very                                   virtually              whereas

while

Check as a class and/ or with the suggested answers below. Many other answers are possible, so please check with your teacher if you wrote something different.

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Longer comparing/ contrasting phrases suggested answers

Many other answers are possible, but ones with (“NOT… X”) in brackets below are not right.

• absolutely/ almost/ nearly/ practically/ virtually identical

(NOT approximately identical X NOT very identical X)

• almost/ approximately/ exactly/ more or less/ nearly/ practically/ virtually the same

(NOT fairly the same X NOT very the same X)

• extremely/ fairly/ very similar

(NOT approximately similar X NOT exactly similar X NOT more or less similar X NOT slightly similar X NOT almost similar X)

• almost completely/ completely/ considerably/ slightly/ totally/ very different

(NOT almost different X NOT exactly different X NOT more or less different X)

• a great deal/ considerably/ far/ much/ slightly/ somewhat/ substantially…er/ more…
• the main/ most noticeable/ most obvious similarity/ difference
• a major/ slight similarity/ difference

(NOT a main similarity/ a main difference X)

• an additional/ obvious/-other similarity/ difference
• This essay has three paragraphs However,/ In contrast,/ whereas/ while this essay only has one.

(NOT On the other hand X NOT On the contrary X NOT Nevertheless X NOT Nonetheless X NOT although X NOT though X NOT But X NOT In complete contrast X)

 

Ranking comparing/ contrasting phrases

Brainstorm phrases into the gaps below in order of how similar or different the things are. Phrases with the same meaning should go next to each other.

1. absolutely identical

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

completely different

 

2. a lot longer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

very slightly longer

Use the mixed answers below and/ or look at the worksheets above to help.

Ranking comparing/ contrasting phrases mixed answers

Use the expressions below to check and expand on your answers above. Some words can be used more than once, and many need to be combined.

a great deal                                  a little                                a lot                                  a tiny bit

almost                             basically                          completely                      considerably

different                                          exactly                             extremely                        fairly

far longer                                       identical                           much                                nearly

only                                                practically                        quite                                 similar

slightly                              somewhat                        substantially                   the same

totally                                              very                                  virtually

 

Compare as a class and/ or with the suggested answers on the next page. Other answers are possible, so please check with your teacher if you wrote something different.

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Ranking comparing/ contrasting phrases suggested answers

Other answers are possible, so please check if you wrote something else.

• Absolutely identical/ Exactly the same
• Very nearly the same/ Only very slightly different/ Almost exactly the same/ Almost identical/ Virtually identical
• Practically the same/ Basically the same/ Almost the same/ Nearly the same/ Only slightly different
• Extremely similar
• Very similar
• Fairly similar
• Considerably different
• Very different
• Almost completely different
• Completely different/ Totally different

 

• a lot longer/ much longer/ far longer/ a great deal longer
• quite a lot longer/ considerably longer/ substantially longer
• somewhat longer
• a little longer/ slightly longer
• very slightly longer/ a tiny bit longer

Ask your teacher about any phrases above which you don’t understand or don’t know how to use.                                                                                                           

What phrases above are not suitable for essays/ reports/ academic writing/ IELTS Writing?

Use similar language to compare an IELTS Academic Writing Task One task and an IELTS Academic Writing Task Two task and what you would put in the answers.

Comparing and contrasting language synonyms

Without looking above, brainstorm at least one phrase that means the same as each thing below. You can add to, slightly change or completely change the words that are there, as long as the phrase that you write has the same meaning. 

a great deal …er

a major similarity

a slight difference

absolutely identical

almost identical

another similarity

approximately the same

completely different

considerably more…

really similar

however

comparing… and…,….

virtually the same

slightly …er

a little different

substantially …er

the main similarity

the most noticeable similarity

Comparing and contrasting language synonyms mixed answers

Use the key words below to help with the task above

additional                                       big                                     biggest               bit

but                                                   compared                        exactly

far                                                    greatest                            identical                           in common

little                                                 more or less                    much                                nearly

obvious                            practically                        same                                slightly

small                                               substantially                    totally                 very

whereas

Check as a class and/ or with the suggested answers below.

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Comparing and contrasting language suggested answers

Other answers are possible, so please check with your teacher if you wrote something different.

• a great deal …er – far …er/ much …er
• a major similarity – a big similarity
• a slight difference – a small difference
• absolutely identical – exactly the same
• almost identical – almost the same/ nearly identical
• another similarity – an additional similarity
• approximately the same – more or less the same
• completely different – totally different/ have nothing in common
• considerably more…/ considerably …er – substantially more…/ substantially …er
• really similar – very similar
• however – but/ whereas/ while
• comparing… and…,…. – compared to…,…
• virtually the same – virtually identical/ practically the same
• slightly …er – a bit… er/ a little …er
• a little different – a bit different/ slightly different
• the main similarity – the biggest similarity/ the greatest similarity
• the most noticeable similarity – the most obvious similarity

 

Comparing and contrasting language errors

The phrases on each line below are all wrong. Correct each mistake (of grammar, collocations, meaning, etc).  

• a great more… X
• a main similarity X
• a slightly difference X
• almost different X
• almost similar X
• an obviously difference X
• approximate the same X
• bit …er than… X
• closely the same X
• comparing to…,… X
• considerable more… than… X
• exactly different X
• exactly same X
• exactly similar X
• extremely difference X
• in completely contrast,… X
• in contrary X
• most obvious difference X
• other difference X
• slightly difference X
• some …er than… X
• the noticeable similarity X
• very difference X
• virtually same X

Check above, with the answer key, or as a class. Other similar correct versions are sometimes possible, so please check if you wrote something different.

Comparing and contrasting language errors suggested answers

Other similar correct versions are sometimes possible, so please check if you wrote something different.

• a great more… X – a great deal more…
• a main similarity X – the main similarity/ a major similarity
• a slightly difference X – a slight difference/ slightly different
• almost different X – almost completely different
• almost similar X – almost the same
• an obviously difference X – an obvious difference
• approximate the same X – approximately the same
• bit …er than… X – a bit …er than…
• closely the same X – nearly the same
• comparing to…,… X – compared to…,…
• considerable more… than… X – considerably more than…
• exactly different X – completely different
• exactly same X – exactly the same
• exactly similar X – exactly the same/ very similar
• extremely difference X – extremely different
• in completely contrast,… X – in complete contrast
• in contrary X – in contrast
• most obvious difference X – the most obvious difference
• other difference X – another difference
• slightly difference X – slightly different/ a slight difference
• some …er than… X – somewhat …er than…
• the noticeable similarity X – a noticeable similarity/ the most noticeable similarity
• very difference X – very different/ a large difference
• virtually same X – virtually the same