IELTS Academic Writing Part Two- Longer Phrases

Longer IELTS Writing Task Two phrases card games

Instructions for teachers

Cut up one set of cards per group of students, keeping the middle cards (with writing in bold) separate. Shuffle the other cards and give one pack to each group of two to four students to join together to make basic IELTS Writing Task Two phrases. When the students think that they have finished or they have got stuck, give them the bold cards to add to the middle of their phrases to check and expand on their answers. If they can’t fit those cards in the middle of the phrases that they have made, then they have probably made a mistake with the basic phrases.

Give out un-cut-up copies for students to check their answers with. They can then test each by reading out parts of the phrases and eliciting the missing bit, by doing the gap-filling task below and/ or by doing the brainstorming task at the bottom. When they seem to know the phrases well, ask them to deal out the cards between them and use phrases with those words when they work together to say what they would write to answer the exam questions that you give them.

 

Cards to cut up/ Suggested answers 

Many people	my age/ in my country/ who I know	believe that…
Recently there has been	quite a lot of/ a lot of/ some/ passionate/ bitter	(online) debate/ controversy over…
In	today’s/ modern/ Japanese/ our globalised	society,…
There are	two/ some/ very/ two very/ several	different points of view on the topic of…
I will examine both sides	of the argument/ below	before giving my opinion./ and then give my own view.
After looking at this	(controversial) matter/ topic/ subject/ debate	from both sides, I will…
I feel	exactly/ just/ more or less	the same way (about…)
I	partially/ mostly/ more or less/ totally/ don’t (really)	agree (with/ with the opinion/ that…)
I will give	two/ three/ the main	reasons for my opinion below.
One of the	chief/ main/ most relevant	advantages/ arguments for/ good points/ benefits…
In my	personal/ limited/ own	experience,…
A(n)/ One	good/ famous/ relevant/ well-known/ recent	example of this is…
I saw a TV programme on/ I read an article about	exactly	this topic in which…
This is	obviously/ clearly/ almost certainly/ probably/	due to/ because of/ caused by/ the result of…
It is also possible to argue the	opposite/ different/ opposing	point of view that…
Turning	our attention	to the other side of the argument,…
As I said/ As I have shown	in the introduction/ above	, I am totally convinced that…
For	all (of)	the reasons given above,…
Despite/ In spite of	all (of)	these disadvantages, overall I feel that…
Although there are	both	pros and cons, for most young people in this country
In the modern world, the benefits of this approach	far/ easily/ generally/ slightly/ could be said to	outweigh the drawbacks (for society) because…
Because of this, the government should put	much/ far/ considerably/ substantially	more effort/ investment into tackling/ ameliorating…

Without looking above, put as many options into each gap below as you can. Answers not above are also often possible. 

	my age/ in my country/ who I know	believe that…
Recently there has been	quite a lot of/ a lot of/ some/ passionate/ bitter
In		society,…
	two/ some/ very/ two very/ several	different points of view on the topic of…
	of the argument/ below	before giving my opinion./ and then give my own view.
After looking at this		from both sides, I will…
I feel	exactly/ just/ more or less
I		agree (with/ with the opinion/ that…)
I will give		reasons for my opinion below.
	chief/ main/ most relevant	advantages/ arguments for/ good points/ benefits…
In my		experience,…
A(n)/ One		example of this is…
I saw a TV programme on/ I read an article about	exactly
This is		due to/ because of/ caused by/ the result of…
It is also possible to argue the		point of view that…
Turning	our attention
As I said/ As I have shown		, I am totally convinced that…
	all (of)	the reasons given above,…
	all (of)	these disadvantages, overall I feel that…
Although there are	both
In the modern world, the benefits of this approach	far/ easily/ generally/ slightly/ could be said to
Because of this, the government should put		more effort/ investment into tackling/ ameliorating…

Use the mixed answers below to help, then check as a class or with the first worksheet.

Mixed answers

• above
• almost certainly
• clearly
• considerably/ substantially
• controversy over…
• (online) debate
• despite/ in spite of
• different
• don’t (really)
• famous
• far
• for
• good
• I will examine both sides
• in the introduction
• Japanese
• limited
• many people
• (controversial) matter
• modern
• more or less
• mostly
• much
• obviously
• one of the
• opposing/ opposite
• our globalised
• outweigh the drawbacks (for society) because…
• own
• partially
• personal
• probably
• pros and cons, for most young people in this country
• recent
• relevant
• subject/ topic
• the main
• the same way (about…)
• there are
• this topic in which…
• to the other side of the argument,…
• today’s
• totally
• two/ three
• well-known

Brainstorming stage

Without looking above for now, brainstorm as many suitable phrases as you can into the gaps below. Many phrases not above are also possible.

Introduction

Background to the topic/ question

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Optional, strong) opinion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Structure of your essay/ Organisation of your essay/ Topic of each body paragraph

 

 

 

 

 

 

Body of the essay

Supporting your opinions

Personal experience

 

 

 

 

 

 

Examples

 

 

 

 

 

 

Information from elsewhere/ Quoting

 

 

 

 

 

 

Logical arguments (cause and effect, etc)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Changing topic/ Starting the next body paragraph

 

 

 

 

 

Ending

Summary (probably referring back to the introduction)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion (linking it to the arguments in the body of the essay, including weak opinions)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recommendations or prediction leading on from the summary or conclusion (if an extra sentence is needed)

 

 

 

 

Use the mixed middle sections on the next page and/ or the mixed answers above to help.

Look at the previous worksheets for some phrases, brainstorm more, then compare as a class.

 

Mixed middle sections to help with the brainstorming task

• all (of)
• all (of)
• almost certainly/ probably/
• both
• chief/ main/ most relevant
• exactly
• exactly/ just/ more or less
• far/ easily/ generally/ slightly/ could be said to
• good/ famous/ relevant/ well-known/ recent
• in the introduction/ above
• (controversial) matter/ topic/ subject/ debate
• much/ far
• my age/ in my country/ who I know
• of the argument/ below
• opposite/ different
• our attention
• partially/ mostly/ more or less/ totally/ don’t (really)
• personal/ limited/ own
• quite a lot of/ a lot of/ some/ passionate/ bitter
• today’s/ modern/ Japanese/ our globalised
• two/ some/ very/ two very/ several
• two/ three/ the main