tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53928452262310273232024-03-19T16:48:14.567+07:00IELTS Model AnswersWilliam Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-49706386500208045132012-04-30T20:51:00.000+07:002012-04-30T20:52:00.863+07:00IELTS Task 2 Life in the present or future<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I know I have not been able to post much in the last few days (but will be back in a few days with an overview of Task 1 of the writing test). T</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">oday's blog post has another model answer on the topic of present V future, which do you think is more important. The question asks "to what extent do you agree or disagree" so there is a lot of scope in any answer which can take a balanced view or agree or disagree 100%! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My answer seeks to take a more balanced approach and starts with a quote, the full quote being: "<b style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><b>Starting an essay with a quote from a famous person is quite a good way to start an introduction!</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Question: Some people think it is best to
think about the present and consider any thought about the future to be a complete waste of time
and effort. To what extent do you agree or disagree?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">To paraphrase John Lennon, life
is what happens when you are busy making other plans. It is clear that some
people live only for the present moment and pay scant regard for the future.
This kind of person is more often than not, satisfied in a spontaneous life of
hedonistic experience. There are also however, other kinds of people who spend
their time living in and contemplating possible or potential future
eventualities that may or may not come to pass. Neither way of thinking is satisfactory
is it is pursued to the exclusion of the other, it is always better to live in
the present moment whilst at the same time keep one eye focussed on future
opportunities and plans that require thought and time in order to achieve short
term and long term goals. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It is in fact essential to
dedicate some time and effort with all due diligence to the present. Every
single human being has certain needs that must always be satisfied within the
scope of the present. Necessities such as food, shelter and clothing as well as
more abstract needs like belonging, esteem are all needs that cannot be catered
for if a person lives only for tomorrow. There are also certain aspects of life
such as family, work and education that cannot be neglected and require almost
constant attention in the present although this does not necessarily mean that
one should therefore start to ignore possible future opportunities or possibilities;
there is a clear need to prioritise current undertakings in order to facilitate
future opportunities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Putting in place plans and
mechanisms to achieve future success is also important. Goals and ambitions are
an inherent aspect of the human condition. Most individuals will aspire to
something that will hopefully allow them to move onwards and upwards to
something bigger, better and ultimately more fulfilling and challenging. Most
things that are aspirational and have value in a person’s life are predicated
upon the requirement of investing a large amount of effort over a sustained
period of time. It is therefore necessary to think about the future in order to
be able to set achievable goals can thus enable people to progress in their
work and educational lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">To conclude, there is not perfect
way to divide a focus on living in the present and/or living in the past; the
appropriate ratio of division will differ from person to person. What is true
however is that no single individual should dedicate all their thoughts and
efforts to either living in the moment or planning exclusively for the future.
Life is all about a balance or equilibrium that is individually determined
between the two dichotomies which should be achievable by each and every one of
us.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-50216944830598390472012-04-01T11:03:00.001+07:002012-05-20T17:19:55.790+07:00How to write a good IELTS Writing Task 2 Part 2<h1>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Last week we looked at the </span><a href="http://ieltsmodelanswers.blogspot.com/2012/03/how-to-write-good-ielts-writing-task-2.html" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;" target="_blank">first two steps in how to write a task 2 essay</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> and this week I will finish explaining a good process approach in being able to write a great task 2. Next week, I will explain how to do an excellent task 1 essay!</span></span></h1>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Step 3 - Planning your essay <o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now that you have looked at the question and got the information you need about exactly what the question is asking, the next stage is to make a plan and start putting ideas together. This is a challenge but really the hardest part of understanding the question has been done already. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Many students think that writing a plan is a waste of time and that the time they spend planning would be better used writing! A good plan will make your essay coherent and structured and very easy for the examiner to read. If you think you can’t spare the time to plan, practice your writing so that you can write enough in the time left after you have planned your essays. <b>Planning is essential.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br />
</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are several different parts of an essay that are all required; Essays always have three parts; an introduction, the main part, and a conclusion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What are the functions of each part of the essay?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; margin-left: 18.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 18pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Introduction</b> – (<b>1 Paragraph</b>) - Comment on the subject and the way you are going to approach it. Define any key terms. This should be one paragraph. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></o:p></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; margin-left: 18.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 18pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Main part</b> – (<b>2-3 Paragraphs</b>) - Present your main points, argument, and supporting evidence as logically and clearly as possible. This should be two or three paragraphs. For a higher band score (7 or more) you might need to have longer body paragraphs or maybe even 4 or 5 paragraphs to extend and support your ideas<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></o:p></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; margin-left: 18.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 18pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Conclusion</b> (<b>1 Paragraph</b>) - Bring your ideas together into a conclusion, clearly state your opinion and add any final comments or opinions. This should be one paragraph. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When planning, the main part will need the most thought. It is necessary to plan a logical and coherent argument which will lead to your conclusions. Make a plan including all the issues you wish to raise and the evidence you will use to support them. We will look at planning and the functions of each part of the essay (inroduciton / body / </span>conclusion<span style="font-family: inherit;">) in future posts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5392845226231027323&postID=5021694483059839047&from=pencil" name="_Toc119929779">Step 4 - Writing your essay</a> <o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Once you have an essay plan and as you are writing for an exam it is important to get the essay started with a good introduction. The body paragraphs should start with one of the issues in that you feel really comfortable with. This will give you the confidence to go on and write the rest. Organize your topics into a logical order. An essay should be a coherent piece of writing. If your essay is not well organized the examiner will find it hard to understand it, even if the points you raise are good and well supported. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Use language that is easy to understand. Try not to repeat the same word in a paragraph; instead try to think of alternative words (synonyms) to express the same idea. In an academic essay try to avoid using “I” and “you” and try to avoid writing expressions such as “I think that” or “In my opinion” as they are unnecessary and are not suitable for academic writing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Exam tip</b>! Do not use abbreviating words, such as hasn’t, didn’t. Write them in their full form, has not, did not = these are only used in informal or spoken styles of English<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Things to be aware of when writing:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Avoid repeating yourself to make the essay longer. This tactic will be spotted immediately and will gain you no marks. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do not copy the wording and phrasing from the essay question<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do not memorize whole paragraphs or long phrases </span><b style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">e.g. some people might agree with this but others may hold the opposite contention.</span></b></li>
</ul>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Vary your vocabulary where possible using synonyms where you can. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do not use “I”, “we”, or “you” in your essay because these words are not suitable for the tone of an academic essay. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do not obviously state your opinion; “In my opinion”; “I Think that…”. The examiner will know your opinion from your writing and this just wastes time.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do not use abbreviations or contractions. E.g. it’s, they’re <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Write on every line unless you are leaving a gap to show that the end and start of a new paragraph. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5392845226231027323&postID=5021694483059839047&from=pencil" name="_Toc119929780">Step 5 - Reviewing and correcting your essay</a> <o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We all make mistakes when we write. Even native speakers! So when you have completed your essay re-read it and look for any mistakes you may not have noticed while you were writing it. Look for any spelling or grammatical errors and correct them. Use the checklist on this page to be sure you have thought of everything. Now that you have checked and corrected your essay it is ready to hand in. Remember to put your name and student ID number on your exam paper before you hand it in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writing Essays - A Review Checklist:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">1, Are there any errors in grammar? </span><br />
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1"><ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="a">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Subject and verb agreements <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tense usage Missing words <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is the punctuation and spelling correct?</span></li>
</ol>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. Have any words been repeated too often?</span><br />
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1"><ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="a">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Can I think of any synonyms for repeated words? <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. Have I covered two or three main ideas in the body?</span><br />
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1"><ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="a">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Does each main idea have its own paragraph? <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Have I given enough detail to support my ideas? <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. Have I written enough? Remember the word length target is a minimum not a maximum!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">5. Is the style appropriate?</span><br />
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1"><ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="a">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Are there any slang words? If so change them <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is the essay clear? <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is the essay easy to read for the examiner? <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">6. Does every sentence make sense? If one doesn't, rewrite it so it does</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">7. Are the paragraphs properly laid out, with a one line gap between each paragraph? Is there a clear topic sentence as the first sentence of each body paragrpah </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">8. Is there the right number of paragraphs, and are they the right size? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">9. Are the introduction and conclusion effective and contain an opinion? </span><br />
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1"><ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="a">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The introduction must set out what the essay will be about <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The conclusion should show that you have dealt with the topic intelligently. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">10. Does the essay answer the question? If it does not you need to change the thesis statement in the introduction and the restatement of the thesis in the conclusion.</span><br />
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1"></ol>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Exam Tip The minimum word count for an essay is a minimum. You should always aim to exceed the minimum and <b><u>try to write ten to twenty words more than is required. Remember that words you copied from the question will not be counted. <o:p></o:p></u></b></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script></div>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-89056230347741164722012-03-21T10:00:00.000+07:002012-05-20T17:20:44.830+07:00How to write a good IELTS Writing Task 2 Part 1<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">Most students find essay writing difficult, however it is frequently used in schools and universities to evaluate students’ knowledge and their ability to present it in a coherent way. It requires the use of many skills; analysis, interpretation, and expression Writing an essay in an examination is an even more difficult task as students have little time to think and produce an essay and exam nerves may cause people to not work as well as they could if they were not working under pressure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What follows is my guide to the five simple steps that I use to help make the task of writing an essay in an examination a little easier. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5392845226231027323" name="_Toc119929776">Step 1 - Be Prepared</a> <o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Before you even go into the exam room think about the common sorts of questions and topics that could be asked. The topics I will consider in future posting will all be common IELTS topics. The topics covered will be: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Education <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Technology <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Culture <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Society<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Global issues<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Before actually starting to write an essay it is important to understand the common types of question words so that you can apply them. Below is a table of Explanations of common words found in Essay Titles (these are used in academic essays and some are not often used often in the IELTS test whereas others are a lot more common and occur almost every week!). Understanding the key question words helps candidates to answer the question fully. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid windowtext; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid windowtext; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 160;"><tbody>
<tr> <td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 104.4pt;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">COMPARE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 321.7pt;" valign="top" width="429"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Look for similarities and differences, and perhaps reach a conclusion about which is best.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 104.4pt;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">CONTRAST<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 321.7pt;" valign="top" width="429"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Look at differences and conclude with which is best<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 104.4pt;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">CRITICISE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 321.7pt;" valign="top" width="429"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Give your judgement about the truth of facts, the merits of theories and opinions. Provide evidence to support your ideas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 104.4pt;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">DEFINE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 321.7pt;" valign="top" width="429"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Set down the precise meaning of a word or phrase and look at different definitions of the same thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 104.4pt;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">DESCRIBE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 321.7pt;" valign="top" width="429"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Give a detailed or graphic account<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 104.4pt;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">DISCUSS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 321.7pt;" valign="top" width="429"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Give reasons for and against.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 104.4pt;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">EVALUATE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 321.7pt;" valign="top" width="429"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Make an appraisal on the value of something<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 104.4pt;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">EXPLAIN<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 321.7pt;" valign="top" width="429"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Give reasons for<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 104.4pt;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">ILLUSTRATE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 321.7pt;" valign="top" width="429"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Give examples to support something<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 104.4pt;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">INTERPRET<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 321.7pt;" valign="top" width="429"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Clarify the meaning of something, and give your own judgement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 104.4pt;" valign="top" width="139"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">OUTLINE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 321.7pt;" valign="top" width="429"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Give the main features of something. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5392845226231027323" name="_Toc119929777">Step 2 - Tackling the question</a> <o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Essay titles can appear impossible at first. Do not allow yourself to be put off by a hard or difficult essay title. Think about the question and what it is asking. Sometimes it is easier to break the question down into smaller questions. Avoid the trap of simply writing everything you know about the topic and remember to keep the essay on topic. Answer the question that has been asked and not the question you would like to have been asked! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I always try to break a question down into smaller questions and the answers for these questions are very useful when it comes to writing my introductions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I will then paraphrase the main question so that I can answer it directly and this helps me to stay on topic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Example one <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Most people think that students should evaluate their schools and teachers. Do you agree or disagree? <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">First break the question down into smaller questions: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is meant by students? <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is meant by evaluate? <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p> </o:p>For this type of essay it is important to decide whether:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You agree that evaluations of teachers and schools by students are a good idea and why <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Or <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></b></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You disagree that evaluations of teachers and schools by students is a bad idea and why. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Example two <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Technology is always changing and has a direct effect on our daily lives. The internet is perhaps the most important invention ever, what do you believe to be more important? <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The first sentence is just a general statement to introduce the topic of technology. First break the question down into smaller questions: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is meant by technology? <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is there any other type of technology that is more important than the Internet? <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For this essay it is important to decide whether: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Internet is the most important invention ever and why. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Or </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are other technologies that are more important than the Internet. What they are and why they are more important. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Example three <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">More and more students are choosing to leave their own countries and educational systems and go and study overseas. Do you think this is a good or bad thing? <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">First break the question down into smaller questions: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What countries do people go abroad to study in? <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What kind of students study abroad? <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Why do they study overseas? <o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p> </o:p>For this essay it is important to decide whether:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Studying abroad is beneficial for students and explain why <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Or <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></b></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Studying abroad brings no great benefits and explain why <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Example four <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Lots of students are choosing to study abroad either at school or at university. Discuss the benefits and disadvantages of overseas studies. </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Give reasons for your answer and include relevant examples from your own experience and knowledge. </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">This question is very different from example three which just wants an answer explaining whether overseas study is good or bad. This question although it looks very similar to question three and is asking for an essay giving both the benefits and disadvantages of studying abroad. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">First break the question down into smaller questions: </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">What countries do people go abroad to study in? </span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Why do they study overseas? </span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">What are the benefits of studying abroad?</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">What disadvantages are there of studying overseas?</span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">For this essay it is important to decide whether: </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">This is an argument, discussion, or explanation essay: This example is a discussion essay</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">What information the question requires for an appropriate answer.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 14.4pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What the benefits are of studying in another country and what the drawbacks are<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 14.4pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 14.4pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 14.4pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 14.4pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What the drawbacks are of studying overseas<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Example five <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">How has your thinking been influenced by the community around you? </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">First break the question down into smaller questions: </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">What does the community consist of?</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Has the community influenced you?</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">How has the community affected you?</span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">For this essay it is important to decide whether: </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">This is an argument, discussion, or explanation essay: This example is an explanation essay</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">What information the question requires for an appropriate answer.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How your thinking been influenced by the community and how it has affected you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Example six <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Technology can bring many benefits, however it can also cause problems. Should people focus on the advantages that technology gives or on the disadvantages? </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">First break the question down into smaller questions: </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">How do we benefit from technology? </span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">What are some of the benefits? </span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">What disadvantages are there of technology? </span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Do the benefits outweigh the disadvantages? </span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">For this essay it is important to decide whether: </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">This is an argument, discussion, or explanation essay: This example is an argument essay</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 14.4pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Technology is of great benefit and people should ignore the problems. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Or</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: 14.4pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Technology is sometimes bad and that people should consider the problems that technology causes. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Exam tip <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Everyone answers an essay question in a different way and there is no single correct answer as long as your essay is logical and your ideas are supported. If everyone approached every task in the same way the world would be a very boring place! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://ieltsmodelanswers.blogspot.com/2012/04/how-to-write-good-ielts-writing-task-2.html" target="_blank">Don't forget to read the second part to this blog post = the next steps in good essay writing.</a></span></o:p></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-5241698779551741012012-03-14T09:36:00.003+07:002012-03-14T17:32:56.835+07:00The Big Writing Mistakes<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In this post I will cover what I think are some of the major mistakes that IELTS candidates make when it comes to writing tasks one and two. There are some things that candidates do again and again and I can only assume that there is some IELTS preparation school somewhere that is giving out bad advice that they think will benefit candidates.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">1 Memorising Chunks of English</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first problem I will cover is the memorising of “chunks” of English that a candidate just inserts into their writing. It is very obvious to spot this kind of behaviour. Either the English will be far too general (that it could be used in any essay) or it will stand out as it will be grammatically perfect and this will not match the accuracy of grammar used in the rest of the essay. I know that certain IELTS tutorial schools teach candidates to rote learn an introduction or conclusion BUT if the examiner thinks that this has been done (and a section memorised) then you can lose marks. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is one example of a memorised chunk used as an introduction:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 33.1pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">While some people think that overall this is an innovative solution to the problem, others have the opposite contention. I would have to conclude therefore that for all the reasons outlined above, the issue is still in a state of flux and that there is as of yet, still no simple answer that is readily available and applicable to all people and to suit all circumstances.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is another example which is slightly better (in that the candidate can at least put in the topics of the essay where required) but you can still see that it is a memorised paragraph and this would be very obvious if the rest of the essay was just not written to the same standard (and would have lots of very basic grammar mistakes and spelling mistakes!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 33.1pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Issues related to university education produce many advantages for everyone and have been continuously debated in many sections of modern society. Society is split on this topic, some prefer to see the inherently positive aspects of university education while others focus on the drawbacks. It might be possible here to elucidate some of the positives and negatives in this essay <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">TIP – do not memorise huge chunks of English to add into your essay. You can however learn some grammatical patterns to use e.g. Not only ….. but also…..<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can learn some quotations to add to your essay from famous people that might add support to your arguments and are particularly useful in introductions and conclusions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Remember that memorising a paragraph <b><u>is obvious</u></b> and will negatively effect your score. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Solution:</b> Make sure you write in your own words and if you must memorise, memorise patterns or short quotes NOT whole paragraphs. <o:p></o:p></span></div><h3><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></h3><h3><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">2 Copying from the Question</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Let’s have a look at a very general education related question:<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lots of students are choosing to study abroad either at school or at university. Discuss the benefits and disadvantages of overseas studies. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What happens (sometimes) is that candidates will copy from the question and say something like the following in their introduction (or conclusion):<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I think that Lots of students are choosing to study abroad either at school or at university and there are many benefits and disadvantages of overseas studies.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Let’s look at that sentence again and highlight the bits that are copied directly from the question<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 26.05pt; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I think that <b><u>Lots of students are choosing to study abroad either at school or at university</u></b> and there are many <b><u>benefits and disadvantages of overseas studies</u></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Candidates sometimes also tend to copy parts of questions into their topic sentences:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Example Question 1: <b>Choosing to study abroad either at school or at university has many benefits.</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Again, let’s highlight the copied parts:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><u><span lang="EN-US">Choosing to study abroad either at school or at university</span></u></b><span lang="EN-US"> has <b><u>many benefits</u></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Example Question 2: <b>On the other hand, choosing to study abroad either at school or at university has a lot of disadvantages.</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We can again highlight the copied parts:<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On the other hand, <b><u>choosing to study abroad either at school or at university</u></b> has a lot of <b><u>disadvantages</u></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Candidates need to be able to paraphrase (write in their own words) or be able to use different synonyms (word that have the same or a similar meaning) to make their work different. Candidates can lose a lot of marks from copying from the questions!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Solution:</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> learn how to paraphrase for example by leaning to turn active into passive (or vice versa). You can also broaden your vocabulary so that you don’t repeat yourself by using the same words all the time and this will make it a lot easier to paraphrase any question you may be asked</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><h3><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></h3><h3><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">3 Not Writing enough</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Task 1 requires candidates to write 150 words and task 2 requires 250 words. This is a minimum and will affect your score if you do not write enough. Candidates will be heavily penalised if they do not write enough and this could push what would otherwise be a good essay (and a good score) down one or two bands. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Solution:</b> practice writing under timed conditions so that you can easily write the minimum in the time allowed. You can also know how many words you write for each line and then you can very easily count how many words you have written quickly. Remember that phrases you have copied from the question will not be counted in your word count!<o:p></o:p></span></div><h3><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></h3><h3><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">4 Not Answering the Question</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This can happen in a number of ways and can take a few different forms. Sometimes it might be due to a misunderstanding of the question or it may be due to the candidate not having enough time to answer all the different parts of the question. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Some questions can have quite a few things to write about. For example, questions that require you to discuss the benefits and disadvantages of something AND give your opinion; in this type of question you need to highlight three different things in your answer! If a candidate misses out just one thing, they will lose marks as though they had only answered half the question. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sometimes candidates do read the question and go off on a tangent; they answer their own question which barely relates to the topic. Being able to answer the question as it is set if a vital academic skill and candidates should not try to answer their own question. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Solution:</b> Read the question and make a plan before you start writing and you should be able to stay fully on topic.<o:p></o:p></span></div><h3><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></h3><h3><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">5 Using the Wrong Structure</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The final type of mistake is where the essay does not have the three parts that are required. All essays need an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. There are also heavy penalties for not using paragraphs or for writing ideas out using bullet points or other inappropriate ways (lists for example).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Solution:</b> Practice being able to write in full paragraphs using topic sentences and support sentences. Make sure you leave a one line space between paragraphs so the examiner can easily see where each paragraph starts and finishes. </span><o:p></o:p></div><script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-1011602171648756772012-03-03T16:03:00.004+07:002012-03-03T16:08:04.768+07:00How the Writing test is graded<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">We have already looked at an </span><a href="http://ieltsmodelanswers.blogspot.com/2012/01/overview-ielts-writing.html"><span style="line-height: 115%;">overview of the IELTS writing</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> test </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> and this posting will look in more detail at how the writing test is graded.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">It is really important for candidates to understand how the test is scored because some mistakes can be easily avoided by knowing exactly what the examiner is looking for and how the writing us graded. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Writing scores are calculated based on four different criteria, and each of the four different criteria will be given a score from 0 to 9. All the criteria count equally and your total score is the average of adding them all together and then dividing by four:</span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;">T</b><strong style="text-indent: -18pt;">ask response – </strong><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">How well (or how completely) candidates answer the question</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="text-indent: -18pt;">Coherence and cohesion – </strong><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">How well the piece of writing links together (flows), how good paragraphs usage is and whether sentences are linked well with good use of referencing.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="text-indent: -18pt;">Lexical resource – </strong><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Level and appropriate use of vocabulary</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="line-height: 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;">Grammatical range and accuracy – </strong><span style="line-height: 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;">Mistakes in grammar and how difficult the structures are that are used in the piece of writing</span></span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">These criteria are used to grade candidate writing and all examiners must mark any piece of writing in the same way. If you know anything about statistical research, this means that the examiners try to take an objective approach (in that different examiners would give the same marks to the same piece of writing) and thus the IELTS test is a reliable one! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">One very common question I get asked by students is: “I heard that the IELTS test is easier at xxxxx (another IELTS test venue), is this true?” I have to promise all candidates that it does not matter at all where you take your test; all examiners grade consistently and the people responsible for the test go to great lengths to ensure that this is the case and that the marking is consistent and to the highest possible standard. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">The details of the criteria for the scores are in the public domain and released by the British Council. All candidates would be advised to read through them. I will in any case take a look at the four different criteria. I will go into more detail in later posts so that you can really understand what the exam is looking for and can avoid many common mistakes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">If you wish to look at the publically available grading criteria, you can access them at the two links below:</span><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://www.ielts.org/pdf/UOBDs_WritingT1.pdf" style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Public Version of the grading Criteria for Task 1</span></a></li>
<li><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; font-family: inherit; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; text-indent: -18pt;"><a href="http://www.ielts.org/pdf/UOBDs_WritingT2.pdf" target="_blank">Public version of the grading criteria for Task 2</a></span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">The grading for task 1 and 2 are very similar but there are some differences, especially in the first category (Task response in Task 2 and Task achievement in Task 2) but all the other categories are the same for both task 1 and task 2. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Candidates sometimes tend to focus more on one or other of the criteria in their preparation (normally they tend to focus on grammar) and perhaps forget about the other ones (normally these will be cohesion and coherence and task achievement). It really is important to remember that all four criteria count equally and they all need to be thought about.<o:p></o:p></span></div><h2><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">IELTS Scoring examples<o:p></o:p></span></h2><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">As I said before, all writing scores are calculated based on the four different criteria (each being given a score from 0 to 9 with all the criteria counting equally towards your final score). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Suppose that a candidate scores as follows:</span><br />
<ul><li><b style="line-height: 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; color: #120d12; font-family: inherit; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">Task Response: 7</span></b></li>
<li><b style="line-height: 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; color: #120d12; font-family: inherit; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">Coherence: 7</span></b></li>
<li><b style="line-height: 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; color: #120d12; font-family: inherit; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">Lexical Resource: 7</span></b></li>
<li><b style="line-height: 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; color: #120d12; font-family: inherit; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">Grammar: 7</span></b></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Their total score would be 7+7+7+7 = 28. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This score of 28 would be divided by 4 to give a final score of 7. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">Let’s look at another more difficult example where a candidate does not use paragraphs and has not fully answered the question but that they overall have a good general level of ability in English when it comes to grammar and vocabulary. In this example, suppose that the candidate scores as follows:</span><br />
<ul><li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">Task Response: 5</span></b><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; text-indent: -18pt;"> - (Candidate did not answer the question fully and they only answered half of it)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">Coherence: 5</span></b><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; text-indent: -18pt;"> - (Candidate did not use paragraphs)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">Lexical Resource: 7</span></b><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; text-indent: -18pt;"> - (Candidate used vocabulary well and used some less common terms)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">Grammar: 7</span></b><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; text-indent: -18pt;"> - (Candidate has a mix of sentences with ability to use complex sentences as well)</span></span></li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This candidate’s total score would be 5+5+7+7 = 24 <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This score would be 24 divided by 4 to give a final score of 6. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As you should be able to see, good grammar and vocabulary are not enough; candidates must focus on all the criteria as they write. To get a target score of 6.5 (which is the minimum score for many universities); candidates need to get a 7 in at least three of the four criteria. As we will see, there are some things like not being able to write enough that will really negatively affect your Task Response score and we will, in future posts look at all the grading criteria in more detail but I hope you can see that the criteria are not simple. Task response for example is not only about answering the question, it also measures candidate ability to extend and support main ideas and maintain a clear position throughout the essay. </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-14033865870528605062012-02-22T00:00:00.011+07:002012-02-22T00:20:23.159+07:00Speaking - Tips to Improve your Speaking Score<h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Candidates often make the same kinds of mistakes; try to make sure you get the best score possible by improving your score in the IELTS test. Candidates need to be aware of and should focus on the following: </span></span></h2><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; line-height: 115%;">1. Understand how the speaking test is graded </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">(</span><a href="http://ieltsmodelanswers.blogspot.com/2012/01/overview-ielts-speaking-test.html" style="line-height: 115%;">look at my overview of the speaking test</a><span style="line-height: 115%;">); or a quick </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">description</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> is given below - your </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">speaking</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> is graded based on:</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 115%;"><ul><li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><b>Fluency and coherence</b> – speak freely at a normal speed and be easy to understand.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><b>Vocabulary </b>- use higher level words and show ability to paraphrase and use some idiomatic language</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><b>Grammar </b>- Use a variety of sentence types (simple, compound, complex) and also avoid grammatical errors</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><b>Pronunciation </b>– does your pronunciation make your speech hard to understand? Can you use language features that a native speaker might use such as intonation, stress, and rhythm.</span></li>
</ul></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; text-align: justify;"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">2. Prepare for and practice </span><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red;">common questions</span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"> </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">that are asked (<a href="http://ieltsmodelanswers.blogspot.com/2012/02/ielts-speaking-speaking-topics.html">Look at my Blog post on general speaking topics</a>) </span><br />
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><br />
</span><br />
<div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">3. Learn ways to </span><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red;">structure your answer</span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">, especially for the second part of the speaking test (the long turn). This part should have an introduction, body and conclusion in the one to two minutes that is allowed. Practice speaking for one to two minutes with your friends and <a href="http://ieltsmodelanswers.blogspot.com/2012/02/ielts-speaking-speaking-topics.html">Look at my Blog post on general speaking topics</a>. I will add a specific Blog post on Part 2 of the speaking test soon!</span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">4. When you’re asked a question, try to answer it without repeating the whole question in your answer. </span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><u>For example:</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Examiner</b>: ‘What's the most interesting thing about your hometown?’ <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Candidate</b>: ‘The most interesting thing about my hometown is…’ = BAD ANSWER</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><u><span style="font-family: inherit;">A better answer would be:</span></u></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Candidate</b>: “My hometown’s Bangkok” and then you can expand on your answer, if possible, by adding something like: “Most people find it an interesting place because…’</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div></div><ol start="3" style="margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;" type="1"></ol><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">5. Improve your </span><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red;">accent</span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"> </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">– make sure you can make all sounds correctly (th, l, r,sh/ch and especially the ends of words) and also practice sounding natural with </span><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red;">word</span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"> <b>stress</b></span><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">, </span></b><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red;">intonation</span></b><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">, </span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">and</span><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></b><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red;">connected speech</span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">. </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">Record yourself and listen to how you sound. Are you speaking too slowly? Are you speaking too quickly? Let a native speaker give you some feedback on the way you speak. </span></div><div><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><br />
</span></div><div><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">6. Improve your </span><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red;">spoken grammar</span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"> </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">– correct any frequent errors. </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">Get a native speaker give you some feedback on your grammar; use of tenses and subject/verb agreement, use of articles etc</span></div><div><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red;"><br />
</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">7. </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red; font-weight: bold;">Broaden your vocabulary</span></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"> </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">–</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"> learn and use the more difficult vocabulary to improve your score such as the <a href="http://ieltsmodelanswers.blogspot.com/2012/02/ielts-vocabulary-idioms_20.html">more idiomatic vocabulary that is shown in some of my other Blog posts</a>. </span></div><div><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><br />
</span></div><div><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">8. Be able to </span><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red;">paraphrase</span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"> </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">so that you can communicate the same idea using different words or sentence structures.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">9. Speak until the examiner stops you, don’t just answer the question and stop. Make sure you demonstrate your best English. Do not give the examiner the opportunity to ask “why?” Make sure that you give the detail so that the examiner does not have to keep on prompting you. </span><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><u><span style="color: red;">Do not give one word answers!</span></u></b></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">10. Don’t memorise or rote learn whole speeches. It is so obvious when a candidate learns a script and then just starts to recite it. The examiner will just change the topic to something else if a candidate does this (believe me, it is so obvious when candidate recite a script of rote learned English</span><br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script></div>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-87869996422269057012012-02-20T15:41:00.000+07:002012-02-20T15:41:54.404+07:00IELTS Vocabulary - IdiomsToday's Word - Read Between the Lines<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimUIpWDO1XbwetXZf_lY8pgpDQTPWHM5yAFWtlR-uyeao9BOqrbkSi-CmX9ItoTBiUa9JnhxWJVKRu-wieoiI7Zhx-jRdHepB5iDktb4rgsPLPifJAfazP5YPHYyz9NnTGlG3v3ITMYdWa/s1600/read+between+the+lines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimUIpWDO1XbwetXZf_lY8pgpDQTPWHM5yAFWtlR-uyeao9BOqrbkSi-CmX9ItoTBiUa9JnhxWJVKRu-wieoiI7Zhx-jRdHepB5iDktb4rgsPLPifJAfazP5YPHYyz9NnTGlG3v3ITMYdWa/s1600/read+between+the+lines.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Today we add another idiom to our vocabulary - try to use vocabulary and phrases like this to give you a higher vocabulary score.<br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-50105814397640364402012-02-13T19:39:00.001+07:002012-02-13T19:41:10.061+07:00IELTS Speaking - Speaking Topics<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">One very frequent question I get from students is to ask me what topics might come up for the speaking and writing tests. There is a lot of overlap between the speaking and writing tests (some subjects occur often in both parts) but in this Blog post, I will look at the topics for the speaking test and highlight the Difficulty and frequency of each respective topic with some notes on each topic as well. Some important ideas and vocabulary will also be highlighted <b><span style="color: red;">in red</span></b>. I will look at topics for the writing test in another future post. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>I have ranked each topic based on Difficulty. This means the ideas to talk about this topic well might be more abstract or less common or that there might be a requirement to use more specialised vocabulary. <o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b>Difficulty<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">* = very easy<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">** = easy<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">*** = moderate difficulty<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">**** = difficult<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">***** = very difficult<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>I have also given a score for which gives a rough guideline as to how often certain subjects might come up. Please note that this is not a scientific assessment of frequency but just a way to enable me to rank the topics in some kind of order.<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b>Frequency<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">* = very rare<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">** = rare<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">*** = quite often<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">**** = common<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">***** = very common<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><b>My list of General Topics<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Art and literature</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = **** / frequency **</span> - some more difficult vocabulary required to talk about painting / sculpture or the theatre. This is quite a hard topic to talk about well and you might consider the <b><span style="color: red;">subjective nature of art</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>and how the price of a piece of art is <b><span style="color: red;">derived</span></b>. It could also mean you have to talk about different types of <b><span style="color: red;">literary works</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>(<b><span style="color: red;">fantasy, science fiction, classics</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>etc.) or talk about the <b><span style="color: red;">plot</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">characters</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>and <b><span style="color: red;">themes</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>of your favourite novel. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Culture</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = ***** / frequency **</span> - a very difficult topic to talk about properly as it can deal with quite abstract concepts which require quite a lot of thought. There are however some simpler issues to look at such as festivals and traditions. A good way to deal with this topic is to read some news articles about your country and culture and look at how other countries view your country an culture. This means you can look at <b><span style="color: red;">stereotypes</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>and things like <b><span style="color: red;">social stratification</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>and the <b><span style="color: red;">demographics</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>of your country.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Education</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = ** / frequency *****</span> - this should be quite an easy topic as all people have experience education and some candidates may still be students. The vocabulary and ideas are quite straightforward and this topic would be a very general one that people would experience in day to day conversation or when meeting someone for the first time. Adding topics like <b><span style="color: red;">lifelong learning</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>and vocabulary like <b><span style="color: red;">undergraduate study</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>or <b><span style="color: red;">postgraduate study</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>to stand out!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Entertainment and Leisure</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = *** / frequency ****</span> - a middle of the road topic that everyone will have experience with, whether it is going out to a restaurant or the cinema (it is quite a broad topic). The vocabulary should be familiar for all candidates to talk about the types of entertainment they enjoy and what they do to relax. Think about hobbies and other things you choose to do in order to relax. (sleeping and eating are not things you do to relax)<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Environment</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = **** / frequency *</span> - the environment is important but it is not an easy topic to talk about at length (and in detail). Look at topics and vocabulary related to <b><span style="color: red;">climate change</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">sustainable development</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>or <b><span style="color: red;">deforestation</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>and <b><span style="color: red;">recycling</span></b><span style="color: red;">.</span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Family</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = * / frequency *****</span> - one of the easiest topics and one which people talk about the most. Very easy vocabulary which candidates can take to the next level if they want with words like <b><span style="color: red;">siblings</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>etc. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Fashion</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = *** / frequency *</span> - perhaps an easier topic for female students than male ones! I personally would find it difficult to talk about fashion as I dress quite <b><span style="color: red;">conservatively</span></b> and don’t care much about <b><span style="color: red;">fads</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>in fashion or <b><span style="color: red;">styles</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>and <b><span style="color: red;">fabrics</span></b>.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Favourites</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = ** / frequency ***</span> - this topic might not be asked for outright but as a part of another topic. Questions on reading might ask about your favourite book. Think about books or movies that you love or restaurants or other places that you like to visit.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Food</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = *** / frequency ***</span> - a very easy topic to talk about (everyone needs to eat) so here you can talk about the type of food you like best and the specific dish you like. I love Italian food and in particular I love pizza! Be able to explain why you like each type of food and dish and you can “<b><span style="color: red;">spice up</span></b>” your vocabulary with words and phrases like <b><span style="color: red;">cuisine</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">ingredients</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">flavour</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">herbs and spices</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>etc.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Friends</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = ** / frequency ***</span> - everyone has friends, your <b><span style="color: red;">peer group</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>from school or university. Do you have a <b><span style="color: red;">best friend</span></b>? Do you get on well with your <b><span style="color: red;">colleagues</span></b>? Or are the people in your life really little more than <b><span style="color: red;">acquaintances</span></b>? A good candidate will be able to explain all the vocabulary I have highlighted and be able to give some detail to their answers<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Homelife</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = * / frequency *****</span> - Where do you live? What kind of place is it? In what area? What is there to do around your home area? Some simple questions that should be easy to answer for most candidates as they are very general questions used in simple conversational English. Be able to talk about your house, how many <b><span style="color: red;">storeys</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>it has and whether it is a <b><span style="color: red;">detached house</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>or a <b><span style="color: red;">bungalow</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>or something else. Look at the local <b><span style="color: red;">facilities</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>and <b><span style="color: red;">amenities</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>in your <b><span style="color: red;">neighbourhood</span></b>.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Media</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = **** / frequency **</span> - Quite a difficult topics which covers many different things such at television, radio and the Internet but can also move into things like <b><span style="color: red;">advertising</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>and <b><span style="color: red;">marketing</span></b>. Good key words like <b><span style="color: red;">markets</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">segmentation</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">integrated communication</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">audience penetration</span></b> etc. These concepts and ideas could make candidates stand out if they are asked questions about the <b><span style="color: red;">mass media</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>and <b><span style="color: red;">media communication</span></b>. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Money and economic matters</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = **** / frequency *</span> - if you have any knowledge of economics, accounts or finance; this might be an easy topic for you. Talking about <b><span style="color: red;">supply and demand</span></b> and how people allocate money to different things are all useful ideas to be able to discuss. You could really shine if you can talk about things like <b><span style="color: red;">utility</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">elasticity</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>and other more difficult concepts.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Music</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = *** / frequency ***</span> - this might fit into leisure topics of things you do to relax in your spare time (and even your favourites) but you candidates should think about their favourite types of music and the songs they especially like. Be able to go in to a little bit of detail about things like <b><span style="color: red;">tempo</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">melody</span></b> and <b><span style="color: red;">lyrics</span></b>. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Political / legal</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = ***** / frequency *</span> - there is no doubt that talking about political and legal matters is very difficult and requires some very special vocabulary. These are big topics that cover some very important issues like <b><span style="color: red;">taxation</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">political representation</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">democracy</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>and <b><span style="color: red;">power</span></b>. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Sport</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = *** / frequency ***</span> - what sports do you like? Do you like to be a participant or do you just like to be a person what watches? Take a look in the English language newspapers (sports sections) or watch some sport on TV (in English) and get to grips with some of the special vocabulary for the sport you like e.g. Football – <b><span style="color: red;">supporter</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">striker</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">sweeper</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">midfield</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">offside</span></b>.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Technology</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = **** / frequency ***</span> - I love computers, in fact I used to be a <b><span style="color: red;">systems architect</span></b> and <b><span style="color: red;">consultant</span></b>. It can be a difficult subject for those who are not <b><span style="color: red;">tech-savvy</span></b>. Look at subjects like <b><span style="color: red;">networking</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">cloud computing</span></b>, living and working in the <b><span style="color: red;">digital age</span></b>.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Travel</b> – <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = ** / frequency ****</span> - whether it is getting away and going on holiday or your <b><span style="color: red;">daily commute</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>to work; how do you do it, how often and with who? What things do you like and dislike about travelling. Perhaps air travel is the best or maybe even cycling? Perhaps you might even prefer to travel by foot? Make sure you can talk about <b><span style="color: red;">planes, trains and automobiles</span></b>!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Work </b>– <span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-image: initial; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">difficulty = ** / frequency *****</span> - If you do have a job or career, this should be easy for most candidates to discuss at length. Think about your <b><span style="color: red;">job responsibilities</span></b>; how you got your job, your <b><span style="color: red;">career path</span></b><span style="color: red;"> </span>and bring in some business vocabulary to really shine like <b><span style="color: red;">subordinates</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">colleagues</span></b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">In future posts, we will look at some general questions that might be asked for each topic!<br />
<br />
I always welcome any comments or questions, so please comment below if there is anything you would like to know!</div><script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-35283086443871250912012-02-07T22:14:00.000+07:002012-02-07T22:14:41.195+07:00IELTS Vocabulary - IdiomsToday's Word - <b>Strike while the iron is hot</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzkhi1Z0nxqEQjqsO27jtljNTejMjIkJ05ChyphenhyphenSQua174FQJfh5JThslECOgLjBtV3A0wmgijuruxftcjzrmry2T0JZHictge6hklhVnJRpGEyEtTTOhWUtic9xqD4G17DNTU-jAR7w6P4B/s1600/strike+while+iron+is+hot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzkhi1Z0nxqEQjqsO27jtljNTejMjIkJ05ChyphenhyphenSQua174FQJfh5JThslECOgLjBtV3A0wmgijuruxftcjzrmry2T0JZHictge6hklhVnJRpGEyEtTTOhWUtic9xqD4G17DNTU-jAR7w6P4B/s1600/strike+while+iron+is+hot.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Today we add another idiom to our vocabulary - adding higher level vocabulary is something I heavily emphasized in my recent presentations at the Study in Canada Fair and the Study in Australia Elite Universities Program. I would like to thank all of the students that showed up and listened to my talk on the IELTS test and wish good luck to all of you and hope you can all study hard and achieve the score you need!<br />
<div><br />
</div><script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-17671969158212528232012-02-02T15:40:00.001+07:002012-02-02T15:41:38.891+07:00Task 1 - Recruitment Methods Used by Employers<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjas9KEJXZw9CW5UUjwCmNGbFWdd689yun2ZELGiGjW8IliIjV7RyQzkhVA23bPvV9S0B6ctrRz8KoTLHZ4yGHpH34Rkl2RHPmHB30pNlCf4zKIaA8Im71jGITR3u0hX6aLO469ilfj-1te/s1600/task+1+recruitment+methods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjas9KEJXZw9CW5UUjwCmNGbFWdd689yun2ZELGiGjW8IliIjV7RyQzkhVA23bPvV9S0B6ctrRz8KoTLHZ4yGHpH34Rkl2RHPmHB30pNlCf4zKIaA8Im71jGITR3u0hX6aLO469ilfj-1te/s1600/task+1+recruitment+methods.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Source – Chartered Institute of Personnel Development</span> </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Task 1</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal">This week we will look at a simple table for task 1. I find task one to be quite difficult when it comes to using more difficult vocabulary and in future posts we will look in more detail how a good task one is structured. One thing to bear in mind is that you must:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<ul><li>Have an overview - state what the graphic is about plus any main trend you can see</li>
<li>Mention every single category of data (at least briefly) or you will lose marks</li>
</ul></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>My Answer: </b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The table shows the various different methods that are used by companies to source new staff in the years 1999 and 2007. It seems that most of the methods have seen an overall decline in use with only an increase in use of two of the methods utilised by companies; namely that there has only been a rise in the use of agencies and e-recruitment. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">For print advertising, adverts placed in local newspapers, specialist magazines and national newspapers have all experience a major decline in popularity, however the fall in local newspaper job advertising was not as steep as it was for adverts placed in the national newspapers or specialist magazines. Job adverts in local newspapers decreased from 82% to 75% whereas those in specialist magazines fell from 91% to 61% (a fall of 30%) and job advertising in national newspapers fell by 38% (the largest fall in popularity from 80% to 42%). <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Other methods also saw a fall in use. Adverts on the radio or on the television where not that popular anyway, the figure stood at 13% in 1999 and it declined a little to be used by only 6% of companies in 2007. Word of mouth was quite popular and was used by 54% of companies in 1999 but this also fell to 44% in 2007. Links to educational institutions and link via alumni saw a similar level of decline in popularity, falling from 40% to 32% over the period.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The only two methodologies that bucked the trend of decline and in fact experience a surge of popularity were the use of recruitment agencies which rose from 60% to 73% but the hugest increase was that of e-recruitment via employee websites which almost doubled from 42% to 75%.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Overall it is apparent that the more traditional forms of news media that used to be popular in advertising vacancies have all experienced a decline in popularity. This could be due to an increasing emphasis on outsourcing some business functions or a greater reliance on technology to try and reduce costs. <o:p></o:p></div><script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-31179718053995991972012-01-30T22:00:00.001+07:002012-01-30T22:00:53.131+07:00Overview – IELTS Listening Test<div style="text-align: justify;">The IELTS Listening Test is the same for the Academic and General Training modules (the modules are only different for the reading and writing parts of the test. Candidates have to listen to English speech spoken in a social or academic context and answer a series of questions. The audio is played only once so you have to practice sufficiently beforehand to pick up what’s being said the first time around.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJOOJViyjfkjX8lokO3vLuF1RKdssy6rtf5Fl1ux49B8O5RPIIQp2g_haEYTQaFJRULKRMf8rEAC_9oE5cwFfUPUR0PpPoCkora_lmwhj0PhS-FMuTtwoL2r52y3Q1KmXlPRttPCCucZt/s1600/listening.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJOOJViyjfkjX8lokO3vLuF1RKdssy6rtf5Fl1ux49B8O5RPIIQp2g_haEYTQaFJRULKRMf8rEAC_9oE5cwFfUPUR0PpPoCkora_lmwhj0PhS-FMuTtwoL2r52y3Q1KmXlPRttPCCucZt/s1600/listening.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Listen carefully, I will say this only once...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">The listening test is divided into four sections with 10 questions in each part (a total of 40 questions). The listening test lasts for about 30 minutes plus candidates will get an extra 10 minutes at the end to transfer their answers to the answer sheet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Candidates will hear a number of recorded conversations and dialogues and each of the four sections of the IELTS Listening Test will focus on a different type of speech:</div><div><ul><li><b>Section 1</b> – A social or transactional dialogue – a conversation between 2 people and the conversation is divided into 2 parts (10 questions)</li>
</ul></div><div><ul><li><b>Section 2 </b>– a monologue (one person speaking) about a general topic divided into 2 parts (10 questions)</li>
</ul><ul><li><b>Section 3 </b>– A conversation in an academic context between 2, 3 or 4 people divided into 2 parts (10 questions)</li>
</ul><ul><li><b> Section 4</b> – An academic lecture divided into 2 parts (10 questions)</li>
</ul></div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Every listening test has 40 questions and each question is worth one point; the number of correct answers a candidate needs to get a particular band score is based on the number of correct answers:</div><div><ul><li>16 to 22 (out of 40) = band 5</li>
<li>23 to 29 (out of 40) = band 6</li>
<li>30 to 34 (out of 40) = band 7</li>
<li>35 to 38 (out of 40) = band 8</li>
<li>39 or 40 (out of 40) = band 9</li>
</ul></div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is however important to note that the scores (above) are averages and overall band score can vary from week to week depending on how difficult (or easy) a particular test paper is.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The listening test measures how well candidates can listen for main ideas, specific information, supporting information, facts and opinions.</div><div><br />
</div><div>A variety of question types will be used:</div><div><ul><li>Classification</li>
<li>Matching</li>
<li>Multiple choice</li>
<li>Notes/diagram/flow chart completion</li>
<li>Short answer</li>
<li>Sentence completion</li>
</ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> The variety of question types means that candidates sometimes need to write an answer as opposed to just simply making a choice of the right answer from a list of options. For this type of question (one that is not a multiple choice question), correct spelling is important and if candidates get the spelling wrong, the answer will be marked incorrect. Even a small error can mean that a candidate loses marks: e.g. if the answer to a question is "lessons"; and you instead write "lesson", this answer can be marked as being a wrong answer. Candidates have to make sure they spell answers correctly and also include the correct (required) information. If the answer is "free English lessons" and they write only "free lessons", they may lose a valuable mark.</div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The accents of the speakers on the audio are from a variety of different countries (they are not only British); some accents (for example Australian) can be difficult to understand for some candidates who might be more used to North American accents. While some American accents might be used, do be prepared for there to be a variety used (remember the test is created by IDP who are Australian, the British Council and the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate so there is a definite British connection!); the exam partners will do their best to ensure that a variety of accents are used to represent the international nature of today’s English. If is however a good idea to make sure that candidates know the most common differences between British and American vocabulary!</div><div><br />
</div><div>One very important point is that when the listening part of the test ends (the audio conversations and speaking), candidates are given ten extra minutes to transfer their answers from the IELTS Question Booklet to the answer sheet. Please make sure that you transfer you answers to the correct numbers on the answer sheet and that in this time you make sure you put an answer for every single question.</div><div><br />
</div><div><b>Some General Tips:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the beginning the IELTS Test there is a short (two and a half minute) introduction. Use this time to read through the test booklet to get a general understanding of what the sections are going to be about.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">After each section, candidates are given one minute to check their answers but it is no possible to check any answers without hearing the audio again! Use this time to read ahead and get an idea of what the next set of questions is going to be about.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The questions follow the oral text (the Answers you are looking for will be answered in chronological order); this makes it easier for candidates to focus on the current question and to know if they have been left behind (the speakers might have gone on to provide the answer to subsequent questions)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Try to read two questions at a time and keep in mind what all the questions for the section you are listening to are – you might find that the answers to several questions occur in a single sentence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you don’t catch the answer to a question, go onto the next question; you will only hear the audio once. The answer might be repeated later on anyway. If not, then you can come back in the final tern minutes after the audio is finished and take a good guess.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you get totally lost, wait until the other candidates turn their pages so that you can find out where you are in the questions. </div>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-70274110863318165832012-01-28T21:40:00.013+07:002012-01-28T21:56:12.286+07:00Overview – IELTS Reading Test<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In this Blog post, it is time to take a look at the IELTS reading test:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMct8dBq_LTAc_hiE5iNxjLqDAUoQTEG9QaVjBxjxy9WmwE6kCTV8UXsKCiN9XLzPzRDzLoHm4ZSwDrshRAF8VTWBdrQCyRbJK1rw_wN6HzqEZy5QeUWEubaOQ6LrJyUfFOu10rXp2IHNj/s1600/reading.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMct8dBq_LTAc_hiE5iNxjLqDAUoQTEG9QaVjBxjxy9WmwE6kCTV8UXsKCiN9XLzPzRDzLoHm4ZSwDrshRAF8VTWBdrQCyRbJK1rw_wN6HzqEZy5QeUWEubaOQ6LrJyUfFOu10rXp2IHNj/s320/reading.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little often (from an early start) is better than cramming in practice time</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Candidates should remember that there are two versions of the IELTS test; a <b><u>General Training IELTS Reading exam</u></b> or an <b><u>Academic IELTS Reading exam</u></b>. The difference between the two versions is in the Reading and Writing modules only (the Listening and Speaking modules are the same for both versions of the test) and the main difference between the Academic and General Reading Modules of the IELTS test is the content of the reading passages. The General Module uses easier texts from social, academic, and work contexts whereas the Academic Module uses more advanced texts, at an undergraduate or graduate level, from academic sources. The skills and abilities that are tested are the same for both versions of the test <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">One mark is awarded for each correct answer and your total score (out of 40) is converted into a band score on the IELTS scale (from 0 to 9). Scores are reported as a whole band or as a half band so it is possible to score 6.5 or 5.5 but the top score is 9 (not 9.5)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Academic and General Training Modules for the reading test however are similar:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">Ø<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Both last for one hour<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">Ø<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Both contain 3 passages to read in one hour<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">Ø<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Both have around 40 questions to answer<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">Ø<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Both are scored in the same way<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">But there are some important differences (we will however go into more detail looking at the academic test)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">IELTS General Training Reading Paper</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is divided into three sections of increasing difficulty and there are 40 questions in total, the sections are as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 1 – two to three short texts - Notices, advertisements, publicity booklets, timetables, etc. (14 questions) <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 2 – two texts - College catalogues, course descriptions, rules and regulations, library guides, etc. (13 questions) <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Section 3 – one long text - Newspapers, magazines, journals, books, etc. (13 questions)</span></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilQAeKNTP4bnU4hu7JTmaP38U9lJtWI9lMQAz3C1TNPeW-XnDZlXThHO9-UcDwXzVENOkGCIfKwas3nqEsCnRQs0ZVDpqBbR8HS5ALDXe2pvcsFTJ0uzgQE0YY12oMsdx6P00QF7_-3KtF/s1600/reading2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilQAeKNTP4bnU4hu7JTmaP38U9lJtWI9lMQAz3C1TNPeW-XnDZlXThHO9-UcDwXzVENOkGCIfKwas3nqEsCnRQs0ZVDpqBbR8HS5ALDXe2pvcsFTJ0uzgQE0YY12oMsdx6P00QF7_-3KtF/s320/reading2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't get stressed out about the IELTS reading test</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">IELTS Academic Reading Paper</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Candidates have 60 minutes to read the three passages and answer 40 questions (</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">11-15 questions for each section)</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">. Candidates are advised to spend about 20 minutes on each passage. Do not waste time worrying about items that you can’t answer and pay special regard to the fact that the texts will probably get progressively more difficult. Therefore it can be a good idea of candidates to divide their time into three 20 minute segments as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">Ø<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">17 minutes on section 1<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">Ø<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">20 minutes on section 2<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">Ø<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">23 minutes on section 3<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 18.0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you have a particularly difficult question, mark it so that you can return to it later and move onto the next question. If you finish early, you can use time at the end of the test to come back.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">All answers must be entered on to the Answer Sheet during the 60-minutes allowed, while candidates may write their answers on the Question Paper first if they wish to, it should be heavily emphasised that no extra time is allowed to transfer answers to the Answer Sheet (this is a major different from the listening test where candidates do have 10 minutes after the audio finishes in which to transfer their answers).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Academic Reading Module will use passages that are based on undergraduate or graduate level texts; they could be taken from books, newspapers or magazines. One passage usually has general academic content, one passage presents a logical argument, and one passage includes a diagram, graph or illustration. Candidates do not require any specialist or technical knowledge to understand the texts. Any </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">passages that contain technical vocabulary will be explained (in a glossary or footnote or in the text itself).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There are 10 basic task types, some with possible variations. A variety of task types will be used in all tests and more than one task type may be used for each passage. Candidates should remember that questions might appear before passage and after a reading passage.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The 10 types of questions are:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">1.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Multiple choice<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">2.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Short-answer<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">3.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sentence completion<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">4.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tables, diagrams, flow charts<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">5.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Summary completion<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">6.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Paragraph headings<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">7.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Locating information<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">8.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Identifying writer's views or claims<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">9.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Classification<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">10.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Matching<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The test asks candidates to show their ability to identify main ideas, supporting ideas, writer’s opinions and specific information.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Pay special attention to the exam questions - when the instructions state that the candidate should answer in, for example, “NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS” – do not exceed the word limit or it will be marked incorrect (that includes using articles “a” “an” “the”).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">All words that candidates will need in order to answer the questions will be given in the passage, so they should be encouraged to transfer their answers to the Answer Sheet with care. Candidates should be aware that poor spelling and grammar are penalised.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The test is designed to ensure that Candidates should be able to demonstrate that they can:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">Ø<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Grasp the big picture as well as the minor points<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">Ø<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distinguish facts from opinions and attitudes<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">Ø<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Identify the overall purpose of the passage<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">Ø<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Follow the main arguments in a written text<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">Ø<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Locate specific details and relevant information<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">Ø<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Summarize any key points<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">Ø<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Infer meaning<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">Ø<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Use accurate spelling and correct grammar<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In later posts we will examine some of the key skills needed to do well in the Reading Test.<o:p></o:p></span></div><script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-82274539124792164272012-01-26T12:44:00.002+07:002012-01-26T12:48:10.306+07:00Overview – IELTS Writing<blockquote class="tr_bq"><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Over the coming weeks, I will look at how the different parts of the test are marked, but to start with, I will continue with just giving an overview of the various parts of the test. Today, we look at the IELTS writing test.</span></div><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div></span></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></div><h1 style="text-align: justify;">Overview – IELTS Writing</h1><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;">There are two versions of the writing test and both versions have two parts. There is a general training module and an academic module.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Both versions of the test have two parts and you have one hour in which to complete the writing part of the test. The two parts of the writing test are:</span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Task 1</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – a shorter task – write at least 150 words in 20 minutes</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Task 2</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – a longer task (essay) – write at least 250 words in 40 minutes</span></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">Candidates therefore choose the </span><b style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><u>Academic Module</u></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"> or the </span><b style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><u>General Training Module</u></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">.</span><br />
<h1 style="text-align: justify;">General Training Writing Module<o:p></o:p></h1><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">General Training Part 1</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – Part one of the general training will be to write a letter to another person and you will be expected to write at least 150 words in around twenty minutes. You will be told what kind of person you are writing to and what information should be included in your answer. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Example of General Training Task 1:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You are at college and have to share a room another student. This situation is however, causing you many problems and you find it very difficult to work. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Write a letter to the accommodation officer at the college. In the letter, <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">describe the situation <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">explain the problems and why they make it difficult for you to work <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; margin-left: 18.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">say what other kind of accommodation would be better <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Write at least 150 words. </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You do NOT need to write any addresses. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Begin your letter as follows: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Dear Sir or Madam<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #555555; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">General Training </span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Part 2 </b>– the second part requires the writing of an essay in around 40 minutes of 250 or more words. The question is not normally as difficult as the academic question but it still requires the writing of an essay. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Example of General Training Task 2:</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. <o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Write about the following topic: <o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In some countries, when someone starts to get old they often go to live in a home with other old people where there are people to look after them. <o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Who do you think should pay for this care, the government or the family? <o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. <o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Write at least 250 words<o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><h1 style="text-align: justify;">Academic Writing Module <o:p></o:p></h1><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Academic Module Part 1</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – Part one of the Academic module will expect you to write at least 150 words in around twenty minutes. You will be given a graph or some other type of picture showing data of some sort for you to analyse and present the information in a report. The data could be a line graph, bar chart, pie chart, table, process diagram, or it could even be a map showing past, present and future aspects of a town or area. <o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Example of Academic Task 1<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The table below shows different recruitment method used by UK companies to find new staff in two different years. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Write at least 150 words<o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx4H0RyPkCg2FN47g3pqrNCGR7iCDXqRLsJ1dHdvrHYKg51pAsgnsQ1XheM8sKlD0WNm1UF-VfyErJvDyk6lET8f2qQxy-90RjoIXWSUxDecOblLavgxlyEgEX5zpwhG6ZauwT9zgjRKTA/s1600/task+1+recruitment+methods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx4H0RyPkCg2FN47g3pqrNCGR7iCDXqRLsJ1dHdvrHYKg51pAsgnsQ1XheM8sKlD0WNm1UF-VfyErJvDyk6lET8f2qQxy-90RjoIXWSUxDecOblLavgxlyEgEX5zpwhG6ZauwT9zgjRKTA/s1600/task+1+recruitment+methods.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Academic Module Part 2</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> – This is the most difficult part of the writing test and you need to be able to write a minimum for 250 words in 40 minutes. Please note that the 250 words is a minimum and if you need a higher level score (a score of 7 or above) it will not be enough and a much longer and more detailed answer will be required. <o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Example of Academic Task 2:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Write about the following topic. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Road transport is increasing in almost every country in the world. In some countries there are more cars than there are people. Some people think that relying on cars is a negative development and that other alternative forms of transport should be encouraged. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">To what extent do you agree or disagree? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt 1.0pt; padding: 0cm;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Write at least 250 words<o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In future blogs, I will look at how candidates get their scores and what you can do to get the best score possible. We will also look in more detail at some of the writing tasks!<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-2032202239476479812012-01-23T15:43:00.002+07:002012-01-24T22:15:05.686+07:00Overview - IELTS Speaking Test<div style="text-align: justify;">The IELTS speaking test lasts only 11-15 minutes and it is split into three parts:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_yyrMH7ZMFddnqF20cHq3q048ZZmtpG_ifeS3P5f4H_0DhCMAQnk2aDxHmM-uGoazcMk44qQg_c3CDJlHOEkv3U6MxKMVRouxTmNtMnJszNdc9XHV2o4BiCCH8CDNc1LRwbmtIlJyoZ1/s1600/interrogation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_yyrMH7ZMFddnqF20cHq3q048ZZmtpG_ifeS3P5f4H_0DhCMAQnk2aDxHmM-uGoazcMk44qQg_c3CDJlHOEkv3U6MxKMVRouxTmNtMnJszNdc9XHV2o4BiCCH8CDNc1LRwbmtIlJyoZ1/s320/interrogation.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The IELTS Interview - not as bad as you might think...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>IELTS speaking Part 1 (3-4 minutes)</b>: Short Questions and answers about some very familiar Topics. The first questions will be about your name and where you are from and then there will be some questions about where you live or where you work/study. This will then be followed by questions on one or two additional topics that should be quite familiar to you; topics such as entertainment, holidays, leisure activities, sport etc.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>IELTS speaking Part 2 - "the long turn" (2 minutes plus 1 minute to prepare)</b>: Candidates are given a topic card and then given 1 minute to prepare for a 2 minute answer. The topics can be a little bit more difficult than those in the first part and can include describing or commenting on a book, building, person, movie, situation. After you have given your presentation, the examiner could ask 1 or 2 rounding-off questions before moving onto the final part.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>IELTS speaking Part 3 (4-5 minutes)</b>: This is a discussion based on the topic area used in the second part. Questions normally are more difficult in terms of thinking and will be about more abstract and general concepts; they might ask the candidate to compare, analyse or speculate on the prior topic. The examiner could also really try to push the candidate to see what their linguistic boundaries of ability are.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>How is the speaking test graded?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The speaking test is graded with a mark being given (from 1-9) based on four key criteria:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Fluency and coherence</b>: Fluency is the ability to speak at a normal speed without too much hesitation and repetition. Coherence is whether speech delivery is easy to understand. In order to score highly, you need to talk at length and develop your topic (do not give single word answers and try to give as much detail as you can). In general, it is good if you can use connectives and discourse markers and avoid pauses and restarting sentences.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Vocabulary</b>: To score highly on this criteria, you must use higher level words, pay attention to collocation, and also use some more idiomatic language. You should also try to show ability to paraphrase and try to avoid using too much slang or any rude words. Remember, this is an academic test so your vocabulary choice should reflect that.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Grammar</b>: Use a variety of sentence types (simple, compound, complex) and try your best to avoid grammatical errors. Problems with articles (a / an / the), prepositions and word order can make your speaking difficult to understand. Try your best to control word endings (correctly use singular/plural / word endings) and ensure that you use the correct tense.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Pronunciation</b>: Your accent, the extent that it is easy or difficult to understand. This includes how you use language features that a native speaker would use; for example intonation, stress, and rhythm.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is perhaps unfortunate that some problems can count in two categories; for example, some grammatical errors might also result in a lower score for pronunciation or some pronunciation problems might also result in a lower score for grammar.</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div><script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-58983148793294036472012-01-23T12:33:00.002+07:002012-01-23T12:46:06.720+07:00IELTS Vocabulary - Idioms<b>Today's Word - Draw the line</b><br />
Today we add another idiom to our word-bank (something that you will need to demonstrate if you are aiming for a higher score!).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDlZHBqexoQFf2MlJ6V45woP07ACjR_RGzMrOOqJ6LzxWsO2QWJmpEsRRdAo5SCqpwaOttfB9R-AY927PlKN5RtDjCM_4P1CgZmnY5DhLV11QSbXr-DqVnsAVoQ3pijAN7hr1IRz4l66A9/s1600/draw+the+line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDlZHBqexoQFf2MlJ6V45woP07ACjR_RGzMrOOqJ6LzxWsO2QWJmpEsRRdAo5SCqpwaOttfB9R-AY927PlKN5RtDjCM_4P1CgZmnY5DhLV11QSbXr-DqVnsAVoQ3pijAN7hr1IRz4l66A9/s320/draw+the+line.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-63985168787354506302012-01-22T10:04:00.001+07:002012-01-22T10:05:07.187+07:00Task 2 - Education: Work and travel instead of study<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">There are only so many topics that IELTS can ask you about for the writing tasks, that is mostly because it is an international exam and that the subjects to write about chosen must be suitable for all countries and all cultures. </div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Most questions can be categorized in to the following topics and we will examine these in more detail in future posts! They are all topics that educated people should be able to speak and write about in their own language!</div><div><br />
</div><div>The main topics are: </div><div><div><ul><li>Education (this is quite a common topic)</li>
<li>Employment and money </li>
<li>Environment and housing</li>
<li>Family</li>
<li>Globalisation (a difficult topic to cover but appears often)</li>
<li>Government</li>
<li>Health</li>
<li>Language and culture (seems to be quite popular as well)</li>
<li>Law and order</li>
<li>Media and advertising</li>
<li>Science and technology</li>
<li>Sport and leisure </li>
<li>Travel and transport</li>
</ul></div><div><br />
</div></div><div>You might notice that most task 2s that we have looked at so far have been about education, that is no accident. Education as a topic is probably the most popular topic</div><div><br />
</div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>There is a general trend in some countries of students taking a break from their studies between school and university and either going travelling or taking a job for a year. What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing this?<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>Answer:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Lots of students upon finishing high school decide to take a break from study and either embark upon a programme of travel around the world or take a job to get some important real world experience. This trend is especially prevalent in certain Western societies where many teenagers in a gap year strap on a backpack and go travelling around the globe or put away their school uniforms in exchange for some kind of work attire and commence employment. There are some great benefits of doing this but there are also unfortunately some serious disadvantages as well.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The advantages of taking a year break from studies prior to embarking on further study are many. This year gives students a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience new people and new experiences away from their normal comfort zone before the responsibilities of life such as supporting a partner or children or be worried about money and a mortgage start to build which would inhibit people from doing embarking on this kind of undertaking later in life. The new experience of work and travel should be fun and an adventure, it will be the first time that these young people will have any degree of freedom over their lives and the ability to choose a job that a person is interested or a place to travel to might inspire them to try something new or something they are interested in. That experience can then be used in the course of their studies; either as a stimulus for the subject of study or as an experience to make the person a more rounded individual. In essence, having a gap year tends to make people have a much greater degree of self-confidence and self-discipline. There is also another advantage that real world experience of work or travel can make it easier for a person to differentiate themselves from the common herd when it comes to applying for jobs or places on academic courses.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">There are however some serious drawbacks to counterbalance the positive aspects of working or travelling as a young person before progressing onto further study. The cost of taking a year off to travel might be high in terms of costs, especially of problems arise, for example if some kind of medical treatment is required overseas, the costs can spin totally out of control. For work, a student will not be able to get a very fulfilling job and will be stuck doing the most menial of tasks; in effect their year spent working will be of little value when it comes to actual marketable skills and knowledge they can take to a subsequent employer. Traveling overseas, while it can be exciting, can also be very dangerous as well. Being young and ignorant of life’s dangers, these students could be potential targets of criminality in the areas they choose to travel to. Spending this time away doing something that may not be too productive can also mean that these people are a year behind their peers when it comes to work and study and will always be playing catch-up in terms of career and study.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In conclusion, there are both benefits and drawbacks to the young taking a break from study and entering the world of work or going around the world travelling. It seems likely that the trend of travelling in a gap year may decline in the future due to negative economic but the trend of working might increase as students try to save some money so they are not so greatly indebted by the cost of their studies. It does seem that people who take this kind of opportunity have a much more rounder view of the world and they do seem to have derived a great deal of benefit from the overall experience.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">(635 words)</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-31867236451132760562012-01-19T16:02:00.000+07:002012-01-19T16:02:25.347+07:00IELTS VocabularyI will be adding some words and phrases each week as you will need some more idiomatic language and good knowledge of collocations in order to get the higher scores in the IELTS test. <script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script><br />
<div><br />
</div><div><b>Today's Word - Vicious Circle</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo3dcq6cQ753HiY5TiAapyXfWXtM2bIIacDSSkcxphNKpR23sHPM06LBZlugygu5mNO7lEMsaTfv3Yd2kzqEemyY9a3wNQqihsC4iqw-U8rbJ0gErL9riKBOPWHQhD9tiPcJqZT_5mAGyr/s1600/vicious+circle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo3dcq6cQ753HiY5TiAapyXfWXtM2bIIacDSSkcxphNKpR23sHPM06LBZlugygu5mNO7lEMsaTfv3Yd2kzqEemyY9a3wNQqihsC4iqw-U8rbJ0gErL9riKBOPWHQhD9tiPcJqZT_5mAGyr/s320/vicious+circle.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
</div>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-46766654525518123692012-01-17T16:07:00.001+07:002012-01-17T16:12:44.574+07:00Task 2: Competition V Cooperation in Schools<div class="MsoNormal"><b>Question: </b>Some people think that competition is important in schools and is a vital part of education. Others feel that the purpose of education is to encourage students to work together and thus the education system should emphasize cooperation. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Discuss both points of view and give your own opinion. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;">This week we look at a more difficult topic but one that comes up very often in task 2 - an examination of some aspect of education. Very often we will have to consider two conflicting ideas. it is important to remember that there is no single correct answer and that we could take any position we want as long as we can support it. Remember the IELTS test is not just a test about English, it is also a test of your academic thinking too!</span></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Answer:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Competition is a fact of life, we all compete amongst ourselves for resources due to the fact that scarcity is a dominant feature of economic life and the only way in which those scarce resources can be allocated is by way of competition. At some schools it might seem strange that children are encouraged to engage in competitive behaviour and some critics have been very vocal in opposing this style of traditional education and have instead favoured a more cooperative model of teaching and learning. This has culminated in an opposing model of education; a liberal and cooperative ideal that is pitched against a conservative or competitive one. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The highly academic schools are always very competitive, they track student progress for each and every class and rank students according to their achievements. This kind of environment generally promotes the idea of all students trying their best to achieve their highest possible standard of work and produce the best quality of work. Just like in a free market, where competition allows companies to produce the best quality goods and services, a competitive environment at school will also produce the best qualities for students. It should also be remembered that the real world of work is very competitive and that this nature of reality needs to be instilled into children so that they and their society can succeed as eventually all students will eventually become adults and then take their role in a competitive world.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">More liberal doctrines of education have highly emphasised cooperation rather than competition as part of a kind of “all must have prizes” ethos. They argue that competition might be good for the top ten per cent but that the results are not so great for the other ninety percent who might then be marginalised and thereby lose motivation. This might culminate in the less confident and less able not wanting to participate to their fullest extents; some individuals might be crushed by their experiences in education and unable to cope with the sort of stress that is engendered by competition. Due to the fact that the people have to cooperate in all fields of human endeavour, in business, in academia and in government; it is much better for children to be taught to work together because we all are stronger when we are part of a team.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">At the present moment, the general trend had been to move towards inclusive methods of education which encourage cooperation. As we can see more and more people heading onto university to study qualifications that for some will lead inevitably to many of them not being able to subsequently secure the type of career they deem to be worthy of them; it is time to bring some competition back into the system (starting with school) so that we can reimagine the education system as being a producer of excellence with high standards and not one that encourages mediocrity for all. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Competition and cooperation are not mutually exclusive concepts and both can be used by children to bring out their best qualities. A system with no competition is not doing any favours for those who experience it as a competitive world awaits them upon completion of their studies. It is a shame that more liberal doctrines have tried to totally remove competition from schools as demonstrated in changes to academic and sporting life in schools. Competition should be encouraged and as long as there is some cooperation as well, this should enable our children to be all that they can be and also prepare them for the real world. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">(597 words)<o:p></o:p></div><script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-935323057417748452012-01-15T11:46:00.003+07:002012-01-15T22:51:38.888+07:00Task 1 - Smoking<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today we will look at a very simple Task 1 style essay - there is nothign too difficult about this graph but it does have 3 lines and enough data for us to report on. Please not that IELTS task one is not generally as simple as the example below but it does allow us to look at how the essay task should be strutured and approached. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I wrote the task in about 12 minutes but for task one, getting it done in 20 minutes is fine. You should write at least 150 words in order to get the best score you can but to get the really high scores, you need to write much more than that in the time! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Personally, I find task 1 much more difficult than task 2 in showing good vocabulary but we will look at other types of task 1 in the coming weeks (maps / processes etc.) which are a but more fun. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Task 1 - Cigarette Smokers in the UK </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYJS66Dxkljyo8z0ITCI05gq2wvaYOe1jWuCmCqclwy1jTQ-xM4ek-I9m5ktZpurtdetxTCZ0eTgpfFkf3MOpWuPa4nFRXk7FGGWNFRUJV0jeoZ_CHD4PfOucRn_SnWsu81mTf3s2Ob_K/s1600/_41329632_smokers3_gra203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYJS66Dxkljyo8z0ITCI05gq2wvaYOe1jWuCmCqclwy1jTQ-xM4ek-I9m5ktZpurtdetxTCZ0eTgpfFkf3MOpWuPa4nFRXk7FGGWNFRUJV0jeoZ_CHD4PfOucRn_SnWsu81mTf3s2Ob_K/s320/_41329632_smokers3_gra203.jpg" width="302" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(Picture: news.bbc.co.uk /data: Office of National Statistics)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Answer: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The graph shows the percentage of people in the United Kingdom who indulged in the habit of smoking cigarettes between 1974 and 2003. The data itself can be broken down into the three groups that are shown on the chart; men, women and an overall average derived from an aggregate of both males and females. There is a very clear overall trend that cigarette smoking has experienced a rather dramatic fall in terms of popularity over the three decades shown but that this decrease seems to have tailed off somewhat in the more recent past. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The percentage of men who smoke which was always larger than that for women was just over 50% in 1974 whereas for women, the respective figure was approximately 40%. From 1974 to 1982, the percentage of men and women who smoke fell to 37% and 35% respectively and then continued to fall more so that by 1990 it stood at 32% for men and 30% for women. After 1990, the percentage still continued to fall however the level of any further falls was much less dramatic for both men and women. 2003 saw that around 28% of the male population smoked. The percentage of women smokers also continued to diminish but at a greater rate than it did for men so that by 2003 only 25% of women were smokers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The average figure for smokers in the UK also mirrors the trend experienced by male and female smokers, in 1974, the average was 45% but it then fell to 35% in 1982 and by 2003 is sitting comfortably between the male and female percentages at approximately 27%.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">It is abundantly clear that a decrease in cigarette consumption has occurred for both the male and female segments of the cigarette market in the UK (this is also reflected in the average figure as well). The reduction in the number of people who smoke could possibly be due to individuals being better informed about possible health issues that are related to tobacco products or could even be a reaction to increases in the price of cigarettes as part of a deliberate government policy to try and discourage smoking by making it much more expensive and thereby reduce the number of smokers in the country. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">(377 words)</div><div><br />
</div><br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-28325202-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-14022344324446198602012-01-13T10:23:00.001+07:002012-01-14T08:54:42.648+07:00Task 2 - Freedom of Speech<div align="justify"><strong>People should have the freedom to express their ideas however they want and there should be no government restriction on what they can say, To what extent do you agree or disagree.<br />
<br />
Answer:</strong><br />
There is an obvious paradox inherent in the two conflicting principles; freedom of speech versus a right to privacy and an associated principle to restrict what people can and cannot say. On the one hand it has been argued that there should be an inherent right for people to be able to express their opinions and ideas without any kind of restrictions on what they say. On the other hand, there is an equally valid argument that there must be some kind of limitation on this right otherwise the very fabric of society could be under threat. he well know scholar of jurisprudence expressed this issue most succinctly, stating that “the most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic”; in other words there need to be some kind of fettering of the right to freedom of speech. The fact that we are dealing with the abrogation of a basic human right means that we need to take a very cautious approach.<br />
<br />
The first amendment of the US constitution is perhaps particularly well known as a guarantee of the right to freedom of speech. Free speech is a basic and fundamental right for all people and it vital in any kind of democratic state. People need to be able to pass comment on politicians and other public figures without fear of legal reprisals; newspapers and the media also need to be able to report news which is sometimes adversarial and critical with regard to the government, companies or even specific individuals. Examples in the recent past are easy to cite; there have been various political scandals such as the cash for questions affair in the British Parliament where members of parliament were paid by businessmen to put forward questions to the government of the day on their behalf in return for some kind of financial incentive. These kinds of scandals are often exposed by newspapers or other public minded individuals; in the Internet age this would be on website, on social networking sites or even on Blogs. It is clear that a freedom to speak one’s mind is vital in a democratic country and is also integral to ensure the proper functioning of the rule of law.<br />
<br />
Limits have been placed on what people are able to say which can severely hamper people’s ability to express themselves freely. Slander and libel law make it a civil offence to say something that is not true about a person that might damage their reputation. Laws against pornography and blasphemy also exist to try to protect the social and moral underpinnings of society. Governments often place prohibitions on expression in the national interest or due to security concerns. There are in fact many restrictions on what people can say and how they are allowed to articulate their thoughts and ideas.<br />
<br />
Clearly, the two positions we have considered are polar opposites. Generally there should be no restriction on how people express themselves and what they are able to say but I think that the best approach to finding middle ground between the two principles is to follow the “harm principle”. In other words, people do have an absolute right to say anything they want as long as it is not to the detriment of another individual or a threat to the security of the country. If there is serious potential for harm that is not then counterbalanced by there being a genuine public interest or some other justification, for example to bring information into the public domain such as when a crime has been committed but had hitherto been unreported; there must be some kind of government restrictions on what can be said but not so that it would threaten the ability to bring place before the public any information or facts that they need to know. (645 words)</div>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-56777644065087410362012-01-10T22:24:00.000+07:002012-01-13T10:25:18.449+07:00Task 2 - Education - Student BehaviourRemember that the word count in IELTS is a minimum of 250 words for task 2. In order to get a higher score, 250 words will not be enough to achieve a 8 or 9 score and will require a lot more!<br /><br /><strong>Question: In many countries schools have problems with student behaviour. What are the causes of this? What can be done to solve this problem?</strong><br /><strong><br /><div align="justify"><br />Answer: </strong><br />No school or educational institution is perfect and every single place of learning will at some point experience problems with student behaviour. In some cases, the problems are minor; for example, low level disruption in the classroom. In other cases, the problems can vary, some can be exceedingly severe with drug addiction and severe physical assaults being perpetrated on school grounds. The causes of the varying degrees of bad student behaviour are varied and complex, but once they are identified, solutions can thus be proposed to effect positive change.</div><br /><div align="justify"><br />Some educational commentators place the blame for student delinquency on the schools themselves for creating the problem. They cite examples of bad teaching where monotonous styles can cause students to lose interest and thus as a result start to disrupt lessons. The curriculum has also been targeted as not being relevant to modern student needs and interests which means that is requires updating to have more in common with the “internet generation”. The solution proposed for this would be to involve students directly in the way that school education is designed and allow them to help shape the way the way their own education is conceived, created and delivered. Methods of teaching could also be changed to focus more on students and cater for different ways of learning. Even the hours of study could be changed to better suit the teenage body clock and teenage lifestyle.</div><br /><div align="justify"><br />The schools however are not solely to blame as the family of badly behaved students must also shoulder some of the blame. Good behaviour starts at home with the parants and if parents spoil their children and let them get away with everything and anything, the end result will be children who are absolutely out of control. It is hardly fair to ask schools to deal with this problem which is one that they did not create. The best way to improve this situation would be to education parents so that they know the best psychological approaches to take when dealing with child behaviour and thus stop behavioural problems from getting out of hand or hopefully, stopping them from occurring in the first place.</div><br /><div align="justify"><br />One final reason is that the problems could be due to problems in the brain that then cause bad student behaviour. This kind of illness is called ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and some medical professionals think this is a serious problem for which medication is used to then bring student behaviour back to normal and enable this kind of student to behave better. Many schools and parents in the United States take this problem very seriously and medicine is given routinely to quite a few students to try and improve student behaviour.</div><br /><div align="justify"><br />To conclude, there are many reasons for student behaviour that help to explain why not all students behave well at all times in the classroom. There is also a good way to deal with each aspect of each single cause, further research is needed to try to make sure students have no real excuse for not concentrating and not working hard at school.<br />(514 words)<br /></div>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392845226231027323.post-3394918393044518952012-01-08T16:07:00.001+07:002012-01-15T11:37:04.906+07:00Welcome to my Blog and a chance for you IELTS students to have a look at some model answers for part one and part two for the writing part of the examination.<br />
<br />
<div>I am a teacher of Business and English based in Bangkok Thailand and have been teaching academic writing for the last 10 years as well as being an academic examiner.</div><br />
Each week I will be adding new essays for task 1 and task 2 to show how a good answer looks. If you have have questions that you would like to have a model answer for, then please leave a comment on this Blog with your essay question or a link to a task 1 graphic.<br />
<br />
Each essay was written in the appropriate time (40 minutes for a task 2 and 20 minutes for a task 1) and they were all written under examination conditions.<br />
<div><br />
<strong>Question: Happiness is important in life. Why is it difficult to define? What factors are important?</strong><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><strong>Answer:</strong></div><div class="MsoNormal">Of course, everyone desires to be happy rather than sad in the same way that most people would prefer to be rich rather than poor. There is no doubt that happiness is the ultimate goal of people but therein lies a problem; happiness is almost possible to define in concrete terms that are generally applicable to all and there are also many factors that are important in determining happiness in a person’s life.</div><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;">The concept of happiness is very difficult to put into words. Firstly, it is an abstract and not a physical concept that is very subjective in that every single person will define it in a slightly different way. It also relies on a multitude of factors which will be different depending on who you ask which will in turn rest upon demographic of cultural considerations such as a particular stage of life a person is in, their geographical location and their socialisation within their respective culture. In particular, although we can say that there are some general factors that do lead to happiness more often than not, the level of emphasis will be vastly different from person to person,</span><br />
<br />
<span style="text-align: justify;">The first factor that lead to a happy life is a person’s personal life. Being part of a loving family where one is valued, where a person can have a role that positively influences other people that they care about and also be cared for not only gives you happiness but also allows happiness to permeate the very fabric of familial existence. Having good friends is also very important, other people you can turn to for help or advice in times of trouble or times of need. These two aspects of friends and family are a very important aspect for anyone to achieve happiness.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="text-align: justify;">The second factor would be for many people a fulfilling work life. A job that gives satisfaction and a feeling of self worth where success is achievable that can lead to greater self esteem, promotion or even a higher salary. We spend so much time at work, it is important to do something we love and not wake up every day hating the idea of having to go to work. We should live to work and not work to live.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="text-align: justify;">The third and final factor should be leisure time and what we can do in our spare time; this is also a significant factor in determining happiness. This again will vary from person to person. Some people just require time to unwind by watching movies, sleeping, in general, just having personal time ot unwind. Others try to again happiness by improving either themselves by for example study , playing sport or by reading. The might also try to improve their environment with DIY or gardening activities. Other people like to spend time also or socialising with their friends. Ultimately having free time for doing things you choose to do is very important in achieving the goal of happiness.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="text-align: justify;">To conclude, there are so many factors that determine happiness and they will all be different slightly for every person in the world. It should be emphasised however that a loving personal life, a fulfilling occupation and spare time to pursue personal interests are all key for most people in order for them to be happy.</span><br />
<br />
(550 words)<br />
<br />
<br />
<div></div><br />
<br />
<div></div><br />
<br />
<div></div><br />
<br />
<div>Please note that I am happy to share all these essays with anyone that wants to read them or is interested in them. I do however assert my moral and legal rights to the copyright in these literary works. </div><br />
<br />
If anyone desires to use any of the content of this website for the purposes of teaching, I assert my full moral and legal rights to be associated as the author of the content of this website and stipulate that all content contained on this website is the intellectual property of Harvey Taylor and may not be copied, reproduced, distributed or displayed without my express written permission. </div>William Wilberforcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674903836279774169noreply@blogger.com2