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IELTS Writing Part Two Tips and Useful Language

A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS

Advice and phrases for IELTS Writing Task 2 groupwork tasks

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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.

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