IELTS Writing Task 2: Essay Writing

Plan your essay

	Task 1	Task 2
Task time	20 minutes	40 minutes
Suggested Planning time	3-5 minutes	5 minutes
Words(at least)	150	250
% of total writing task	33%	66%

Why should we plan our essay?

• Write a relevant answer.
• Write a well-structured answer.
• Use the best language
• Save time

Understanding the question type

Essay type	Question language
advantages and disadvantages	"What are the advantages and disadvantages of this?"
opinion essay	"... to what extent do you agree?" "What is your opinions?"
discussion essay	"Discuss both sides and give your opinion"
direct question essay	e.g. "Should parents let young children use electronic devices?" "Should governments be responsible for people's health?"
cause/effect + solution essay	"What are the causes of this?" "what are the effects of this?" "How can this problems be solved?"

Understanding the question topic

• Politics
• Culture
• Finance
• The Environment
• Education

Identify the main arguments

Brainstorming ideas

Discussion essay

Some people believe that government spending on the Arts is a waste of money, and that this money could be better spent in other areas. Others say that it is essential to promote the culture of a country.

Discuss both views and give your opinion.

The government should fund the Arts	The government shouldn't fund the Arts
culture is an important part of a child's education. some cultural works generate lots of jobs and income for the country. art makes life better, making people happier	if art is good, people will pay for it, so it shouldn't need public money. there are children living in poverty in many country, this is more important. public money should be for essential things, like transport and medical care.

Cause/effect and solutions essay

Over the last century, an increasing number of animals have become endangered or extinct.

What do you think the causes are? What solutions can you suggest?

Causes	Solutions
Deforestation - rainforest destruction - animal habitats Pollution in the sea - plastic - chemicals Hunting - lions, elephants in Africa	Laws on deforestation. Reduce paper usage. Cut plastic use. Tax on packaging. Clean up the beach projects More laws against hunting.

Opinion essay

Many people say that everyone should be entitled to free healthcare and that it is the responsibility of governments to provide this to their people.

To what extent do you agree?

Agress	Disagree
Heath problems cannot be avoided - everyone gets them, rich or poor Better public health benefits everyone - avoid pandemics Poverty is not someone's fault - we have a human right to life and good health If heathcare is free, people won't go into work sick.	People need to be responsible for their own health, not expect the government to look after them.

Advantages and disadvantages essay

Nowadays an increasing number of people are working from home instead of going into the office.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of this?

Advantages	Disadvantages
More environmentally-friendly. Fewer cars on the road People can spend more time with their families. Saves companies money - office rent, heating etc.	Less face-to-face contacts, not working atmosphere. Workers are distracted by home life. Some people don't have good internet.

Planning the Body Paragraphs

• 2-3 body paragraphs
• topic sentence
• develop the argument
• give example
• explain how it relates to the main argument

Body paragraph 1

• Point: xxx
• Explain:
  • A: xxx
  • B: xxx
• Example: xxx
• concession: xxx

Developing Paragraphs

Structure a paragraph

What does a body paragraph need?

• a clear point
• explanation of the point
• how the point relates to the question
• an example

Structure

• topic sentence
• explain in more detail
• (give an exmaple)
• (show how the example relates to the point)

A simple example

Do you think it is the government's responsibility to care for elderly people, or should only their families be held responsibile?

1. topic sentence
2. explain in more detail
3. give an example
4. explain how the example relates
   It seems clear that people like them deserve assistance from the government as they get older and start to lose their ability to fully look after themselves.

The first point to consider is that many older people have no familiy to look after them.

It is possible that someone may have never had children, or may have moved to a new country later in life, meaning that they will not have the support of family to look after them.

For instance, a person who has never married or had children might retire at 70 years old, but have no one to look after them.

It seems clear that people like them deserve assistance from the government as they get older and start to lose their ability to fully look after themselves.

Topic sentence

• Show the "clear central topic" of the paragraph.
• Shows the examiner the "answer to the question" they are looking for.
• It should be a statement, not including "in my opinion" or something like this.

Developing your main point

Your next sentence could explain:

• Why is your topic sentence true?
• What are the causes or effects of this point?
• How does it work?
• Why is it a good or bad thing?
• How does it relate to the question issue?

Topic sentence:
Another cause of pollution in cities is vehicles.

Support sentence:
Most road transport such as cars and truncks produce a large amount of emissions such as carbon dioxide, which is released into the atmosphere.

----

Topic sentence:
However, without the Arts, our lives would be less interesting.

Support sentence:
We spend so much of our time watching TV series, listening to music and reading books. These pieces of culture keep us entertained, and give us something to talk about.

----

Topic sentence:
Perfect computer translation software removes the need for people to study languages.

Support sentence:
Learning a foreign language is a great experience, it challenges your brain and it teaches you about new cultures and new ways of thinging. With translation technology available evertywhere, people would no longer take part in this activity.

Giving examples

• You do not always need an example for every point.
• "Your own experience" does not mean "personal stories".
• Hypothetical examples are good and a good way to show off grammer.
• They should perfectly illustrate the point you are trying to make.
• You should introduce them with a discourse marker(e.g. 'for example', 'for * instance', 'such as')

Topic sentence:
Studying languages is a foreign country can be too expensive for most students.

Example sentence:
For example, a student coming to study English in Australia from Europe has to pay for a long flight and for accommodation, which is expensive in cities.

Opinion - Discussion - (Dis)advantages Essays

Some people believe that zoos are an important part of animal conservation, while others argue that they are cruel to animals and should be banned. 
Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Topic sentence: Zoos increase the public's awareness of animals that are endangered.

Main Points:

1. Explain why visiting a zoo can make a person undeerstand more about endangered animals.
2. Explain why people knowing more about the animals helps with conservation in general.
3. Give an example of an endangered animal that people learn about through zoos.

Problem/Solution Essays

These days, more and more people spend their day sitting at desks, and less time doing physical activity.
What problems are associated with this? What solutions can you suggest?

Effect topic sentence: People suffer from back problems.

Main points:

1. How spending your day sitting contributes to back problems.
2. What are the effects of back problems - why is it bad?
3. Example showing this effect.

Linking words

• This is because
• As a result
• Therefore
• This leads to [+noun phrase]
• For instance

Tips for Essay

1. Keep your IELTS Essay structure simple
   Don't worry too much about learning different rules, structures and type of essays. You just need to read the task carefully and write directly in response to your writing task prompt.
2. Plan your IELTS essay before you write
   Think and plan before you write.
   It is necessary to brainstorm for at least 2-5 minutes. write down all the keywords and phrases that come to your mind, and the organise your ideas by making a simple plan for the IELTS essay structure.
3. Show good grammar and vocabulary
   Do not use words and sentences that you are not sure about; other wise, you could end up producting a worse essay.
4. Write coherently and use cohesive words
   

Userful Phrases For Essay

Beginings

• Over the last century ...
• The idea that ... has its merits.
• While this is an interesting proposal and has some merits, my own view is that it would ...
• Despite these arguments, there is an equally strong case to be make that it would be ...
• There is much debate about the position. I will discuss both these ... in this essay.
• This is a complex issue and my belief is that ...
• There are a variety of potential ways of combatting this problem.
• However, in order to find a solution, it is first of all necessary to understand what has led to this happening.
• Finding the right policies is not an easy task as it is a complex problem.
• There is some dispute whether the best method of ...

Stating viewpoints

• There are different viewpoints held in this discussion.
• Some people argue that ..., while others thin that ....
• However, there is a large body of opinion which is opposed to ...
• It is said that three-quaters of all children ...

To add more points on a topic

• There are several reasons why ...
• It can also be argued that ...
• This is certainly not an easy issue though, because ..., has caused by many problems as it solves.
• ... is the only point to be taken into consideration when ...
• ... is an urgent problem that needs to be addressed.
• At the same time, a lot of publicity is given to what the public consider to be ...
• Most of the experts blame .. for this problem.
• Given that ... is cheap and ..., it is not surprising that ...

Endings

• My conclusion is therefore that ...
• In conclusion, I believe that while there are real merits on both sides of the argument, the moral case against forcing people to work slightly outweighs any benefit to ...
• Its benefits outweigh the drawbacks and have a positive effect on many aspects of our lives ...
• All things considered, ...
• My own personal view is that there is merit in both sides of the debate.
• Finally, ...