IELTS Preparation Series 3, Episode 2: Writing Task Response
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Hello, and welcome to Study English, IELTS preparation. I'm Margot Politis.
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Today we'll look at the Writing Task in the essay section of both the general and academic
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IELTS tests.
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IELTS essay topics are of general interest and relate to current issues in society.
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You can expect to be asked about:
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The media, education, environment,
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health, communication, technology
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and society.
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Being familiar with issues in these general areas is important.
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Listening to English language media will help you develop a bank of ideas on topics like
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this.
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An issue in health could be about children eating too much and not exercising enough.
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You could be asked to discuss a statement such as:
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Children's eating habits and lifestyles today are more likely to be harmful than beneficial.
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You should know the essay instructions. These tell you how much time you have and how much
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you need to write.
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You are instructed to spend about 40 minutes writing the essay, which has to be at least
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250 words.
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With practice you'll know without counting what your 250 words look like.
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You will also be asked to give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples
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from your knowledge or experience.
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This is one of the instructions, so you need to follow it.
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Reasons are saying why you think something is true or not. You could write:
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An increasing number of children are becoming obese because they are eating too much junk
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food.
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Reasons are supported by examples, like this:
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For example, aggressive marketing of such foods towards children is one of the contributing
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factors.
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Relevant examples are examples like this that are clearly connected to the question.
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Now let's look at an essay question, and how to analyse it before you write your answer.
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How well you do this will help with your task response, which is one of the criteria used
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to assess the essay.
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Let's look at a question topic. Here's a typical statement:
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The ageing populations of more developed countries are going to cause social and economic problems
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for society in the future, especially for the younger generation.
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With this is something called the question task:
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To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
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The essay question is always presented in this way as a statement followed by the question
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task.
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First, let's look at the statement. Read it carefully.
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The ageing populations of more developed countries are going to cause social and economic problems
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for society in the future, especially for the younger generation.
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You should ask yourself 'who or what must I write about?' Here, you have to say something
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about ageing populations, developed countries, society in the future and the younger generation.
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Highlight these and any other key phrases, such as 'cause social and economic problems'.
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Think about what these phrases mean. Thinking of synonyms or words that mean something similar