=> MASTERY by FICC IELTS Academy 1 | I emcee a Lecture Sheet => Ficce Farees International Career Counseling - FICCIELTS Overview of Task 2 MASTERY In Task 2, you are asked to write an essay in response to a point of view, argument or problem. Depending on the task type, you are assessed on your ability to present a solution to a problem; to present and justify an opinion; to compare and contrast evidence, opinions and implications; to evaluate and challenge ideas, evidence or an argument, ‘The examinees are expected to produce an academic style composition, usually targeted towards educated non-specialists. IELTS recommend you to spend no more than 40 minutes on Writing Task 2. However, time is yours to manage as you wish. You should write over 250 words. In order to suit the task in the question, a certain style stated below should be followed. The questions in the IELTS test will essentially follow the types below- © Argument © Cause and Effect © Comparison and Contrast ‘© Advantages and Disadvantages Problem and Solution In IELTS Writing Task 2, candidates are judged on their ability to ‘© Present a solution to a problem «Present and justify an opinion © Compare and contrast evidence, opinions, and implications Evaluate and challenge ideas, evidence, or an argument. ‘> Marking Criteria In Task 2 of the writing exam, candidates are judged by the following criteria: 1. Task Achievement (appropriately and relevantly fulfilled the task requirements) 2. Coherence and Cohesion (clarity and fluency of the message, organizing link information and ideas, logical sequencing) 3. Lexical Resources (using a range of vocabulary accurately in the sentence) 4. Grammatical Range and Accuracy (accurate use of grammar in the sentence) 880 1407 048866 FICC IELTS AcademyIELTS “ 5 Steps for IELTS Writing Task 2 MASTERY Step 1: Understand the question. ‘You must understand the question before you attempt to answer it. This way, you'll know exactly what the examiner is looking for. One of the biggest mistake’s students make is not answering the question fully, which stops them from getting a score higher Band. To analyze, ‘you must first identify the question type, then identify the keywords in the question and finally identify the instructions words. This will help you understand exactly ‘what the examiner wants you to do with the question. Some students think that analyzing the question will take up too much time, but they normally don’t do as well as they should. I know teachers repeatedly say, ‘read the question,’ but what does this actually mean? The examiner is actually looking to see if you have understood the question properly, and a failure to take the time to do so could result in you dropping down a few band scores. Step 2: Plan your answer. ‘The students who get the highest marks in Writing Task 2 always plan their answers for up to 10 minutes. Planning helps you organize your ideas and structure your essay before you write it, saving you time and helping you produce a clear and coherent essay. A good plan should be like a map that guides you through the essay and ensures you get to where the examiner wants you to go. Every sentence should have a purpose; if you are writing for the sake of writing, then it won't be a very good essay. Less is more in many cases, and a good plan ensures that every sentence has a purpose. You have 40 minutes to write a Task 2 essay. Even if you took 10 minutes to plan and 5 minutes to check your work at the end, you still have 25 minutes to write your essay. The average 250- word essay is about 12 sentences long, so you have over 2 minutes to write one sentence. I think everyone is capable of doing that, When you have a good plan, you know exactly what that sentence will be about and how it fits in with the rest of the essay. You don’t have to think of ideas or structure: write grammatically correct sentences and clearly say what you think about the question. You don’t have to spend exactly 10 minutes planning and 5 minutes checking at the end. You could plan for 7-8 minutes and check for 2-3 minutes. Practice finding out what works best for you. FICC IELTS Academy fice.com.bdIELTS Step 3: Write an introduction, Masany: ‘The introduction should answer the question directly. This tells the examiner that you know what you are doing straight away and helps you write your main body paragraphs. The introduction is the first part of the essay the examiner will read, and it will give them a good first impression of what to expect in the rest of the essay. Just like in person, first impressions last. Ifyou use this structure, you will not only score higher marks but also save time in the exam, If you practice enough, introductions will become easy, and you will do them in just a few ‘minutes. This will leave you lots of time to focus on the main body paragraphs, where you can pick up lots of marks. An IELTS writing task 2 opinion essay should have three elements, and these should be: > Paraphrase question > Give opinion/ Thesis Statement > Support opinion with 2 ideas That's it. Simple! Let's see an example of a good and bad introduction of a specific question. Then you will get clear picture about whole introduction part. ‘There is @ good deal of evidence that increasing car use is contributing to global warming and having other undesirable effects on people’s health and well-being. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? Good Introduction Rising global temperatures and human health and fimess issues are often viewed as being caused by the expanding use of automobiles. This essay agrees that the increasing use of motor vehicles contributes to rising global temperatures because of the production of greenhouse ‘gases by vehicles and certain health issues are caused by the release of toxic chemicals by internal combustion engines. Bad Introduction Nowadays, cars are a very popular way of getting around. Day by day many more people drive cars around but others feel that they cause global warming. Global warming is one of the most serious issues in modern life. They also affect people's health and well-being which is also a serious issue. ‘As you can see, the bad example generally talks about the topic, copies words and phrases from the question, and doesn’t include a thesis statement or outline statement. 880 1407 048866 FICC IELTS Academy fice.com.bdIELTS: © The Thesis ey Lae ‘A Thesis Statement is probably the most important part of an introduetory paragraph. As we mentioned earlier, your introduction should give a clear picture of what you are going to write next, The thesis statement is a proposition of a subject to be described, a scenario to be narrated and an opinion to be supported. It is necessarily evolves from a point of descriptiownarration/argument embedded within the topic statement in the question paper. ‘Actually, the reaction of the examinees to the topic is the thesis. Take the topic provided above as an exemplary one. The topic states that “There is a good deal of evidence that increasing car use is contributing to global warming and having other undesirable effects on people’s health and well-being. The immediately following sentence asks if the examinee agrees or disagrees to this proposition. ‘When the examinee decides in favor of going either for or against the proposition, it turns into a thesis. Following are the characteristics of Thesis Statement- ‘© The thesis statement must be clear ithas to be decisive © it should be comprehensive ‘© it must be independent from the question stem. On the basis of this identified thesis, the examinee has to design his/her composition.” Step 4: Write the main body paragraphs. This is where you give the examiner more detail. You do this by stating your main points and supporting these with explanations and relevant examples. The very first sentence in your supporting paragraph should be the topic sentence. Each paragraph should have one main idea only, and the topic sentence tells the reader what this idea is. This makes your paragraph and the whole essay clearer and easier to read. You will gain marks for coherence in the IELTS writing test if you do this. Think of them as signposts that direct the reader to where you want to go. FICC IELTS Academy fice.com.bdIELTS" © How to Write a Topic Sentence MASTERY We think of topic sentences in an argument (agree or disagree) essay by thinking of ideas about why we support one side or the other. Let’s look at another question: Most high-level positions in companies are filled by men even though the workforce in many developed countries is more than 50 % female. Companies should be required to allocate a certain percentage of these positions to women. Do you agree? So we have to think of reasons for and against allocating a certain percentage of positions in the workforce to women. For: «Fairness © Equality ‘* Prevent discrimination ‘© Women outperform men in many jobs ‘* Women outperform men in many schools and university subjects Against: ‘© Should be based on merit, not gender ‘+ A few jobs, like construction, are better suited to males T support the ‘for’ category, so I will pick two reasons and write topic sentences for them. You should always pick the ideas you know most about, or in other words, can explain and support them with examples. Topic Sentence 1; Women should be allocated a certain percentage of roles because to not do 0, discriminates against them because of their gender. ‘Topic Sentence 2: Females should be given a bigger share of jobs because women currently outperform males in most university subjects. +880 1407 048866 FICC IELTS Academy ficc.com.bdIELTS MASTERY ‘As you can see, all I have done is introduce my ideas clearly. There is no need to use very advanced Janguage to do this; stating your position in simple language is all you need to do. ‘The body should consist of some three paragraphs, all having separate themes. Every sentence in a particular paragraph must be directly related to its individual theme. Hence, during the period of brainstorming, students should find out at least three points/themes, basing on which the body will be formed. As we explained earlier, the thesis statement must comprise of all the points that from the body. All these things must be kept in mind while designing the body of the composition. Each of the body paragraphs consists of several sentences that are arranged. in a logical way to strengthen and develop a main idea, Try to develop each paragraph adequately, This may be done through the use of examples, explanations, details, logical references, and making comparisons or contrast. Never undermine the importance of putting examples to strengthen your logics and arguments. A relevant example is a lot better in clarifying your point of view rather than several pages of theoretical explanation. Nothing else can satisfy the clarification purpose better than examples. So, whenever you write a body paragraph, try to put at least one relevant example to back up your logic. Some may argue regarding the number of body paragraphs. In many cases, students are unable to write three body paragraphs because of fewer findings, and in some cases, three paragraphs are seemed less in number. Our logic for three paragraphs is, in order to comply with the time constraint and word limits of the composition, three well written body paragraphs should go a Jot further than poorly written thirty. Moreover, three body paragraphs can be deemed as quite standard in terms of IELTS. Then again, students vary in terms of understanding and thought generation; so, do not consider the three-paragraph thing as any concrete guideline, rather, itis just an instruction. 048866 FICC IELTS Academy fice.com.bdIELTS Step 5: Write a conclusion. po eane In your conclusion, you should provide a summary of what you already said in the rest of your essay. ‘The conclusion is the easiest paragraph to write because, in many way’, you are just using ideas you have already mentioned in your introduction and main body paragraphs. However, this is the last thing the examiner will read, and will probably not have much time remaining when you are writing your conclusion, so you is, therefore, crucial that you finish strongly. You must practice them and learn how to write them quickly. © IELTS Conclusion Quick Tips Never write any new ideas in your conclusion: A conclusion should always restate your ideas in the rest of the essay. New ideas should be in the main body and not in the conclusion. Make sure you answer the question in the conclusion: The conclusion should state your thoughts about the question and clarify your feelings about the issue. Vary your language: Just because you are restating your ideas in the rest of your essay doesn’t ‘mean you use the same language. Instead, you show the examiner you have a wide vocabulary by paraphrasing. Don’t try to include everything: You are not required to go into detail; you have already done that in your main body paragraphs. Instead, you will summarize your main points. Always write one: It isn’t easy to get a good score in task 2 if you haven’t finished your essay with a conclusion. Even if you are running out of time, make sure you write one. First, you should start with a linking phrase, but some are better than others. Here are some examples: Finally/ In a nutshell/ In general/ In conelusion/ To conclude.......ete Agree or gree Essays ‘Agree or disagree question types are among the most common on the IELTS writing paper, so you must learn how to write them properly. > Structure Many students fail to do well in this type of question because they do not have a clear opinion and they do not use an appropriate structure. The best structure you can use for this type of essay is: 880 1407 048866 fice.com.bd1ELTS" Paragraph 1- Introduction Pesan — Sentence 1- Paraphrase Question = Sentence 2- Thesis Statement — Sentence 3- Outline Statement Paragraph 2- Supporting Paragraph 1 Sentence 1- Topic Sentence = Sentence 2/3- Explain Topic Sentence = Sentence 3/4- Example Paragraph 3- Supporting Paragraph 2 — Sentence 1- Topic Sentence — Sentence 2/3- Explain Topic Sentence ~ Sentence 3/4- Example Paragraph 4- Conclusion = Sentence 1- Summary and reiteration of your opinion. That’s it! Four paragraphs. Deciding Opinion In this essay, IELTS examiners want you to give a clear opinion, so you must decide when you read the question. You will also need to do this to write an effective thesis statement, Let’s look at an example: Tn some countries, many people suffer from health problems due to eating too much fast food. It is, therefore, necessary for governments to impose a higher tax on this kind of food. Do you agree or disagree? With this type of essay, we have two choices: 1. We agree with the statement or; 2. We disagree with the statement Therefore, for this agree or disagree essay, you can say either: 1. This essay agrees that governments should tax fast food or; 2. This essay disagrees that governments should tax fast food. ['S Academy fice.com.bd +880 1407 048866 FICC IE1ELTS [think I will have more ideas for A, so I'm choosing that one. Always choose the on fet aay comfortable writing about — even if you don’t feel that way. You don’t get extra marks for writing about how you feel; you want to give the examiner what they need to score your essay a Band 7+, 4 Idea Generation ‘Now we have to think of ideas for why governments should tax fast food. Here are some: ‘© Cigarettes and alcohol are taxed in the same way «The money raised could be used to treat people with health problems Fast food companies should be punished for selling unhealthy food to people * Making the food more expensive would stop people from eating it © The money raised could be used to educate people about healthy eating ‘We don’t need to use all of these, just two for our supporting paragraphs. I will pick the first and the fourth ones because I know a little about these two and feel confident I can expand on them with explanations and examples. Remember, the examiner wants you to fully support your arguments, not just list many ideas. Now we have two supporting ideas; we can move on. to our introduction. ¢ Introduetion As previously stated, we will use the following structure: Paragraph 1- Introduction Sentence 1- Paraphrase Question Sentence 2- Thesis Statement Sentence 3- Outline Statement Paraphrased: It is argued that governments should levy a tariff on junk food because the health risks associated with consuming this kind of food are rising. This is our first sentence. We now need to write our thesis statement. This is our opinion in one sentence. This essay ‘will agree with the above statement and will, therefore, look like this: “This This is our second sentence. essay agrees that a higher rate of tax should be paid by fast-food companies” fice.com.bd 880 1407 048866IELTS MASTERY ‘We now need to write our third and final sentence, which is the outline sentence. This sentence outlines what you will write about in the main body paragraphs. Firstly, alcohol and tobacco companies already pay higher taxes; secondly, higher taxes could raise prices and lower consumption. So, our full introduction will look like this: It is argued that governments should levy a tariff on junk food because the number of health risks associated with consuming this kind of food is on the rise. This essay agrees that a higher rate of tax should be paid by fast-food companies. Firstly, alcohol and tobacco companies already pay higher taxes; secondly, higher taxes could raise prices and lower consumption. We now need to write our supporting paragraphs for our agree or disagree essay: “ Supporting Paragraph 1 This paragraph should include: 1, Topic Sentence 2. Explanation 3. Example A topic sentence tells the examiner about the rest of the paragraph. In other words, it is a summary of your first idea. It should look something like this: Higher excise on liqueur and cigarettes has proven to curb the harm caused by these substances. ‘We now need to expand on this point a little. A good way of doing this is to assume that the examiner does not know this subject, and you must explain clearly what you mean. Here is what this could look like: “This revenue has been used to treat health problems associated with these products and has proven useful in advertising campaigns warming people about the dangers of alcohol and tobacco abuse. Tax from fast food could be used in the same way.” 880 1407 048866 FICC IELTS Academy fice.com.bdIELTS" MASTERY We should now think of an example to support our point. Think about any recent news stories, studies or adverts. If you can’t think of one, make one up. The examiner won’t check if it is real or not. “The United Kingdom is a prime example, where money from smokers is used to treat lung cancer and heart disease while at the same time, pumped into health campaigns in schools to warn children about the dangers of smoking,” That's it. Four sentences. The full paragraph should look like this: Higher excise on liqueur and cigarettes has proven to curb the harm caused by these substances. This revenue has been used to treat health problems associated with these products and has proven useful in advertising campaigns warning people about the dangers of alcohol and tobacco abuse. Tax from fast food could be used in the same way. The United Kingdom is a prime example, where money from smokers is used to treat lung cancer and heart disease ‘Supporting Paragraph 2 We now repeat the same formula with our second supporting point- higher taxes will increase prices and reduce consumption. Our topic sentence: “Increasing taxes would raise prices and lower consumption.” Explaining this further: Fast food companies would pass on these taxes to consumers in the form of higher prices, leading to people not being able to afford junk food because it is too expensive. Junk food ‘would soon become a luxury item, and it would only be consumed occasionally, which would be less harmful to the general public's health. We now support our point with an example: “For instance, the cost of organic food has proven prohibitively expensive for most people, and that is why only a small percentage of the population buys it regularly.” 880 1407 048866 FICC IELTS Academy fice.com.bdIELTS" ‘The full paragraph would look like this: ae nny: Increasing taxes would raise prices and lower consumption. Fast food companies would pass con these taxes to consumers in the form of higher prices, leading to people not being able to afford junk food because itis too expensive. Junk food would soon become a luxury item, and it would only be consumed occasionally, which would be less harmful to the general public’s health, For instance, the cost of organic food has proven prohibitively expensive for most people, and that is why only a small percentage of the population buys it regularly. Four sentences. Conclusion As stated before, a good conclusion for agree or disagree essays should include: Sentence 1- Summary of main points Sentence 2- Your opinion Don't write any new ideas in this paragraph. A good conclusion should restate your thesis statement and your main supporting points. In conclusion, junk food should be taxed at a higher rate because of the good precedent set by alcohol and tobacco and the fact that the increased cost should reduce the number of fast-food people buy.” Sample Answer It is argued that governments should levy a tariff on junk food because ‘the number of health risks associated with consuming this kind of food is on the rise. This essay agrees that a higher rate of tax should be paid by fast-food companies. Firstly, aleohol and tobacco companies already pay higher taxes; secondly, higher taxes could raise prices and lower consumption. Higher excise on liqueur and cigarettes has proven to curb the harm caused by these substances. This revenue has been used to treat health problems associated with these products and has proven useful in advertising campaigns warning people about the dangers of alcohol and tobacco abuse, Tax from fast food could be used in the same way. The United Kingdom is a prime example, where money from smokers is used to treat lung cancer and heart disease. 880 1407 048866 FICC IELTS Academy ficc.com.bd> IELTS Increasing taxes would raise prices and lower consumption. Fast food companies WHE DASE ‘on these taxes to consumers in the form of higher prices, leading to people not being able to afford junk food because it is to expensive, Junk food would soon become a luxury item, and it would only be consumed occasionally, which would be less harmful to the general public's health. For instance, the cost of organic food has proven prohibitively expensive for most people, and that is why only a small percentage of the population buys it regularly. In conclusion, junk food should be taxed at a higher rate because of the good precedent set by aleohol and tobacco and the fact thatthe increased cost should reduce the amount of fast-food people buy. +880 1407 048866 FICC IELTS Academy