Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
British Council
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
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Common problems
in IELTS Task 1 writing
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#1 Not knowing how you are marked
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#1 Not knowing how you are marked
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#2 Units and Numbers
Common errors:
3) Amounts of money
$1,7 billion
SHOULD BE:
1.7$ billion
$ 1.7 billion $1.7 billion
1.7 billion $
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#2 Units and Numbers
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#3 Future Predictions
What do you notice about the years?
PREDICTIONS FOR
FINISHED PAST THE FUTURE
EVENTS
(NOT 100% SURE
(PAST TENSES) WILL HAPPEN)
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#3 Future Predictions
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#3 Future Predictions
#3 Future predictions
PREDICTIONS FOR
FINISHED PAST THE FUTURE
EVENTS
(NOT 100% SURE
(PAST TENSES) WILL HAPPEN)
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#3 Future Predictions
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#4 Not Making Comparisons
Instructions for all Task 1 prompts:
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How it affects your score
No comparisons?
Likely a 5.
Generally addresses
the task (but not
addresses the
requirements of the
task) & there may be
a tendency to focus on
details.
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#4 Not Making Comparisons
Don't describe items in isolation
Instead of describing 2 items separately,
describe by time / period and compare the
data at key points.
Two things you can always compare:
Ranking (Highest? Lowest? Higher than?
Lower than? Mid-level?)
Rate of change (Increased more quickly than?
Increased more slowly than? Decreased more
rapidly than?)
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#4 Not Making Comparisons
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Fish and chips became the most consumed fast food in the UK by
the end of the period.
Consumption of hamburgers increased less rapidly than that of
fish & chips.
Consumption of pizza decreased while the other two increased.
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#5 Collocations
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#5 Collocations
Two ways to use trend language:
Adjective + noun
ex. There was a gradual increase
Verb + adverb
ex. The price of oil increased gradually
Examples of rate
adjectives/adverbs:
Adjective Adverb
sudden suddenly
sharp sharply
rapid rapidly
steady steadily
consistent consistently
gradual gradually
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#5 Collocations
Examples of amount
adjectives/adverbs:
Adjective Adverb
Trend language
#6spectacular spectacularly
dramatic dramatically
substantial substantially
significant significantly
modest modestly
slight slightly
marginal marginally
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#5 Collocations
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#6 Clear Overview
Example
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Bad Example: Overall, there were many
significant changes in the figures.
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OK example: In general, the duration of
national and international fixed line calls and
mobile calls increased whereas local fixed line
calls rose then fell over the period.
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Good Example: Overall, although local fixed line
calls were still the most popular in 2002, the gap
between the three categories had narrowed
considerably over the second half of the period.
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Example
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Bad example: Generally speaking, it is expected
that there will be many changes in the
demographics of Yemen and Italy.
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OK example: Overall, Italy is expected to have a
much older population than Yemen by 2050.
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Good example: Generally speaking, in Yemen the
middle-age population is expected to increase and
become the majority while in Italy the elderly
population is projected to increase greatly.
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#7 Capital Letters
Sometimes the units are given in capitals
#7 Capitalisation
In your essay, only use capitals for proper nouns
Places (countries, cities, towns, etc.)
Names (Microsoft, Chinese, Google, etc.)
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#1 Not knowing how you are marked
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#1 Not knowing how you are marked
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#2 Writing the wrong type of essay
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#2 Writing the wrong type of essay
What are the missing words in the instructions?
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#2 Writing the wrong type of essay
What are the missing words in the instructions?
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#2 Writing the wrong type of essay
What are the missing words in the instructions?
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#2 Writing the wrong type of essay
What are the missing words in the instructions?
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Is there anything unusual about this task?
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#3 Writing before planning
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#3 Writing before planning
Often write about the theme but not the exact prompt
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#3 Writing before planning
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#3 Writing before planning
2. Ideas with unclear support
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#3 Writing before planning
3. Waste time to think of ideas while writing
Buy 100,000 of petrol and drive for 5 days
Big capital investment
Only queue once a week to buy petrol = more free time
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#4 Unclear position
If the prompt requires a position,
you must have an opinion / point of view
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#4 Unclear position
IELTS doesnt care what your opinion
is, as long as it is clear and consistent
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#7 Mechanical cohesive devices
If you were an IELTS examiner, what would you think
about the organisation of this essay?
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#7 Mechanical cohesive devices
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#7 Mechanical cohesive devices
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#7 Mechanical cohesive devices
How does it affect your score?
7: uses a range of cohesive devices appropriately
although there may be some under-/over-use
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#8 Formulaic Introductions
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You must include examples
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Dont use ambiguous examples
For example, income growth in many developing
countries has led to the improving of living standards in
many areas.
A more concrete example would be:
For example, recent GDP growth in Vietnam has led
to the improving of living standards throughout the
country, especially in infrastructure such as the Ho Chi
Minh highway or the Vinh Tuy bridge.
Your example should show your argument in
action.
Real-life event, person, company or place.
Based on your own experience is OK.
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Recommended Books
Vanessa Jakeman (2007), Action Plan for IELTS, Cambridge Univ. Press.
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Useful Websites
www.britishcouncil.org/vietnam-exams-road-to-
ielts.htm
ielts.org
dcielts.com
ielts-simon.com
ielts-academic.com
ieltsbuddy.com
ielts-blog.com
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Any questions
about
Task 2 writing?
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Good
Luck!
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