IELTS Writing Part Two Tips and Useful Language

IELTS Academic Writing Task Two tips and useful phrases

What advice would you give on writing IELTS Writing Part Two essays?

 

Use these topics to extend your discussion:

Before the exam                          

 

Analysing the question 

 

Planning/ Paragraphing

 

Introduction                                  

 

Writing                             

 

Summary/ Conclusion

 

Editing

Cross off any of the tactics below which are bad ideas/ are not true. Leave any which are not clearly bad ideas as they are.

Preparation for the test

• It’s worth doing timed writing practice even if no one can correct it
• The answers at the back of exam practice books are perfect models which you should copy as much as possible
• Memorise model answers from the internet and just change a few words and sentences to make your answer in the exam
• Make a note of your typical errors in IELTS Writing and go back to them many times to check that you can remember the right versions

 

Analysing the question

• Underline important words in the question
• There’s no need to read and underline instructions like “Give reasons”, because they are the same in every question
• “To what extent do you agree or disagree?” questions are the same as “Look at both sides and then…” questions
• With “To what extent do you agree or disagree?” questions, you still have to look at both sides of the argument
• With “To what extent do you agree or disagree?” questions, you have to say how strong or weak your opinion is
• With a looking at both sides question like “What are the advantages and disadvantages of…?”, one advantage and one disadvantage is enough
• If a question includes a word with -s like “causes”, “reasons”, “effects”, “solutions” or “advantages”, then you have to write about more than one

 

Planning/ Paragraphing

• If you can think of a good plan for your essay (= structure of the essay/ topic of each paragraph), there is no need to brainstorm
• Brainstorm as many ideas as you can before deciding on your paragraph structure
• Spend about 10 minutes planning
• Most IELTS Writing Part Two essays have four paragraphs (two main paragraphs plus an introduction and summary or conclusion)
• If you are just looking at one side of the argument, you might want three main paragraphs with one for each of the reasons for your opinion
• If you are looking at two advantages and two disadvantages, you need four main paragraphs in the body (i.e. six paragraphs in total)

 

Introduction

• Rephrase the question in your introduction
• Spend a couple of minutes making sure that you don’t repeat any words from the question when you are rephrasing it
• If you can’t think of a word with the same meaning as one in the question when you are rephrasing, just change the grammar (e.g. changing from a verb to a noun)
• If you can’t think of a word with the same meaning as one in the question when you are rephrasing, just use one with more or less the same meaning
• End the introduction with a sentence that explains the structure of the essay (= the topic of each body paragraph)
• Give your opinion in the introduction if you will only look at one side of the argument
• Give your own opinion in the introduction if you will look at both sides of the argument
• It’s often a good idea to talk about the background to the question, e.g. why it is topical and/ or important, before rephrasing the question
• Think carefully about the language that you use to talk about the background to a topic, e.g. whether the topic really is “controversial” or if “many people” really believe it

 

Writing

• Use different kinds of support (personal experience, other people’s experiences, things you read or heard, cause and effect, etc) for each argument that you mention
• Make up imaginary data to support your arguments
• Make up quotes and the places they came from to support your arguments
• Avoid personal pronouns like “I”, “me” and “my”
• One or two sentences is enough support for each argument that you write about
• Make sure that the body paragraphs are similar lengths to each other

 

Summary/ Conclusion

• All IELTS Academic Writing Part Two essays should end with a summary and then your own opinion
• One sentence is okay for a final paragraph
• If you’ve looked at both sides, you need to clearly show why one side is more or less important when you come to a conclusion
• If what you have written leads to a conclusion that is the opposite of your own opinion, write the former rather than the latter
• It’s okay to totally sit on the fence between two positions in your conclusion

 

Editing

• Leave at least three or four minutes for a final edit
• Count the exact number of words
• Count the number of words in two lines, calculate how many words per line, then count how many lines
• Make sure that the examiner can understand without having to read anything twice
• Make sure that your essay is really neat (= tidy = not messy)
• Use an eraser to get rid of all mistakes
• It’s okay to correct by crossing things out, using triangular shapes to add extra words, etc
• You can insert one or two extra sentences with an arrow to improve the structure or reach the minimum number of words
• Add higher level language while you edit
• Get rid of repetitions by rephrasing, using reference expressions, etc

Hint: 22 need to be crossed off.

 

Compare your ideas with the suggested answers below.

Suggested answers with bad advice in bold

Preparation for the test

• It’s worth doing timed writing practice even if no one can correct it
• The answers at the back of exam practice books are perfect models which you should copy as much as possible
• Memorise model answers from the internet and just change a few words and sentences to make your answer in the exam
• Make a note of your typical errors in IELTS Writing and go back to them many times to check that you can remember the right versions

 

Analysing the question

• Underline important words in the question
• There’s no need to read and underline instructions like “Give reasons”, because they are the same in every question
• “To what extent do you agree or disagree?” questions are the same as “Look at both sides and then…” questions
• With “To what extent do you agree or disagree?” questions, you still have to look at both sides of the argument
• With “To what extent do you agree or disagree?” questions, you have to say how strong or weak your opinion is
• With a looking at both sides question like “What are the advantages and disadvantages of…?”, one advantage and one disadvantage is enough
• If a question includes a word with -s like “causes”, “reasons”, “effects”, “solutions” or “advantages”, then you have to write about more than one

 

Planning/ Paragraphing

• If you can think of a good plan for your essay (= structure of the essay/ topic of each paragraph), there is no need to brainstorm
• Brainstorm as many ideas as you can before deciding on your paragraph structure
• Spend about 10 minutes planning
• Most IELTS Writing Part Two essays have four paragraphs (two main paragraphs plus an introduction and summary or conclusion)
• If you are just looking at one side of the argument, you might want three main paragraphs with one for each of the reasons for your opinion
• If you are looking at two advantages and two disadvantages, you need four main paragraphs in the body (i.e. six paragraphs in total)

 

Introduction

• Rephrase the question in your introduction
• Spend a couple of minutes making sure that you don’t repeat any words from the question when you are rephrasing it
• If you can’t think of a word with the same meaning as one in the question when you are rephrasing, just change the grammar (e.g. changing from a verb to a noun)
• If you can’t think of a word with the same meaning as one in the question when you are rephrasing, just use one with more or less the same meaning
• End the introduction with a sentence that explains the structure of the essay (= the topic of each body paragraph)
• Give your opinion in the introduction if you will only look at one side of the argument
• Give your own opinion in the introduction if you will look at both sides of the argument
• It’s often a good idea to talk about the background to the question, e.g. why it is topical and/ or important, before rephrasing the question
• Think carefully about the language that you use to talk about the background to a topic, e.g. whether the topic really is “controversial” or if “many people” really believe it

 

Writing

• Use different kinds of support (personal experience, other people’s experiences, things you read or heard, cause and effect, etc) for each argument that you mention
• Make up imaginary data to support your arguments
• Make up quotes and the places they came from to support your arguments
• Avoid personal pronouns like “I”, “me” and “my”
• One or two sentences is enough support for each argument that you write about
• Make sure that the body paragraphs are similar lengths to each other

 

Summary/ Conclusion

• All IELTS Academic Writing Part Two essays should end with a summary and then your own opinion
• One sentence is okay for a final paragraph
• If you’ve looked at both sides, you need to clearly show why one side is more or less important when you come to a conclusion
• If what you have written leads to a conclusion that is the opposite of your own opinion, write the former rather than the latter
• It’s okay to totally sit on the fence between two positions in your conclusion

 

Editing

• Leave at least three or four minutes for a final edit
• Count the exact number of words
• Count the number of words in two lines, calculate how many words per line, then count how many lines
• Make sure that the examiner can understand without having to read anything twice
• Make sure that your essay is really neat (= tidy = not messy)
• Use an eraser to get rid of all mistakes
• It’s okay to correct by crossing things out, using triangular shapes to add extra words, etc
• You can insert one or two extra sentences with an arrow to improve the structure or reach the minimum number of words
• Add higher level language while you edit
• Get rid of repetitions by rephrasing, using reference expressions, etc

 

Brainstorm useful phrases for doing the things in italics above.