People moving to a new country should accept new culture in the foreign country rather than living as a separate minority group. Do you agree or disagree? IELTS Writing Task 2

Bhargavee Sisodia

15 Oct 2024

Writing an essay is the shared task in the second section of the IELTS writing exam for both the Academic and General Training categories. Examinees have forty minutes to compose an essay in this area of the test that is at least 250 words long. IELTS essay topics may take many various forms; this blog will go over how to approach them wisely and provide a ton of ideas and answers for IELTS writing task 2.

IELTS essay segment: Types of Essay

IELTS essay topics often fall into one of six main categories, each with a specific response format. As a result, you must be aware of and comprehend the essential ideas of each kind of essay, or else your IELTS writing band score will suffer.

• Problem Solution Essay: You must address the causes and effects of the issues mentioned in the topics in these essays. It is best to refrain from offering personal commentary and suggestions in these sorts of writings. 
• Advantage & Disadvantage Essay: This kind of essay requires you to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of a certain topic. Each paragraph in your essay's main body should discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a certain topic, keeping the overall composition balanced. Don't disclose it if the issue doesn't ask for it expressly.
• Discussion Essay: In this kind of essay, you can address both sides of a topic. Please do not offer your opinion if it is not requested explicitly. There are occasions when these essays ask you to express your viewpoints, at which point you must give your opinion. 
• Balanced Opinion Essay: You must approach the topic of this kind of essay with sensitivity while presenting your opinions. Without supporting one side over the other, you must provide arguments for all sides of the debate. In the essay's introduction and conclusion, you should share your perspective. 
• Opinion Essay: You are required to provide your personal opinion on the assigned topic in this essay, usually expressing agreement or disagreement. Provide the necessary arguments and supporting documentation to convince the examiner of your position. Remember that you are unable to express partial agreement or disagreement with the given problem. Whatever your position, it needs to be well-founded.
• Direct Question Essay: This kind of essay evaluates your ability to articulate yourself, examine a subject, and provide a coherent, well-organized response to a particular topic or problem. These types of essays might pose multiple questions within a single topic, hence you need to be careful while reading and understanding the question.  

Like every other section of the test, the essay portion of the IELTS writing exam is scored using a few criteria. A summary of the key evaluation criteria for the IELTS writing essay has been provided for your convenience. 

IELTS Writing: Assessment criteria 

One-fourth, or 25%, of the total IELTS writing band score is determined by each of the four criteria that are used to assess the essay portion of the writing exam. The following are the contributing factors: 

• Task Achievement / Task Response: This part assesses your grasp of the assigned topic, how well you comprehended the main points made in your response, and how accurately you understood the problem. Make sure you have enough time in the allotted 40 minutes to edit your essay, and that it is at least 250 words lengthy.
• Coherence and Cohesion: The term coherence describes how ideas make sense. To compose coherent writing, you must clearly organize your thoughts and write in an understandable manner. Cohesion refers to the proper way of connecting different literary aspects with words such as "however," "moreover," "nevertheless," and so on. Make sure to steer clear of word repetition and use a lot of connecting words in your writing. 
• Lexical Resource: To ascertain this point, the examiner would assess your work for accuracy, depth of vocabulary, spelling mistakes, and skillful word choice and usage. Using a broad vocabulary effectively might help you get a higher score for this criterion. 
• Grammatical Accuracy and Range: Your use of proper language, sentence structure, and punctuation is assessed in this area. You must correctly apply your vocabulary and a wide range of grammar in order to ace this section. 

IELTS writing test: List of Linking words

By establishing links between concepts, phrases, and paragraphs, linking words are used to improve a piece of writing's logical appeal and fluency. Since we don't often employ connecting terms in regular speech, we usually lack their vocabulary while writing essays. As a result, we have provided you with a list of a few connecting terms that are divided into categories.

Restatement: To restate a point or fact

• In short
• To rephrase
• In a nutshell 
• In simple terms
• I mean
• Expressed simply
• That is to say
• Otherwise

Generalization: To generalize an idea or statement

• In general
• In most cases
• Universally
• Overall
• Generally speaking
• By and large
• Broadly
• Without exception

Illustrating: To illustrate an instance or to exemplify

• As an example
• Such as
• In the case of
• As shown by
• Illustrated by
• Take for example
• One such example is
• Specifically

Concession: To portray contrasting thoughts or ideas

• Admittedly
• All the same
• Upto a point
• Even so 
• Even though
• Even if

IELTS writing task 2 topics with answers  

Determining the category of your essay

One of the most important things you will have to do while organizing your essay is to correctly identify the category that it belongs in. If, prior to composition and writing, you do not understand which category the essay falls in, you will obtain a lower grade in the Task Achievement criterion.  

For example, if your topic is “People moving to a new country should accept new culture in the foreign country rather than living as a separate minority group. Do you agree or disagree?

The keyword in the question is “Do you agree or disagree?”. 

• This indicates that the subject falls within the category of "Opinion" essays also called “Agree / Disagree” essays. 
• You need to add your opinion all over the essay with relevant examples to justify your stance on the topi

Opinion Essay: This type of essay requires you to agree or disagree with the problem statement. Your point of view should be unilateral and unbiased. You cannot partially agree or disagree with the topic as it will be divergent from the syntax of the essay.

The Essay Structure

Introduction: Paraphrase the topic statement and mention your rigid perspective on it. 

Main Body: The main body should consist of 2 paragraphs. Make sure the entire essay depicts a unilateral stance, or else the essay’s syntax will be compromised.

• Paragraph 1: First idea on the topic statement along with relevant examples.
• Paragraph 2: Second idea on the topic statement along with relevant examples. 
• Paragraph 3: Optional. If the pointers are more elaborate than expected, you can use this additional paragraph to state them.

Conclusion: Restate your specific point of view on the topic statement (agreement or disagreement) and give it a proper ending.

Now let's have a look at the possible answers to the above topic from the “Opinion” category for the IELTS writing band scores 6, 7, and 9 

IELTS writing band score 6

The debate of whether people moving to a new country should accept a new culture or stick to their traditional beliefs as a group of minorities is ever lasting. I believe it's essential to thoroughly accept the new culture of the place they migrate to lead prosperous lives there.

Although our earliest, most vivid recollections are indeed linked to our origins, these norms don't have to be followed throughout our life. Furthermore, visitors to foreign countries need to approach other cultures with an open mind in order to easily adapt to their way of life. For example, a significant amount of people migrate to Canada and the United States every year in search of better career prospects. If these people stick to their old cultural beliefs and form a minority in the foreign land, their aim of having a florishing career and life will be ruined as they would be treated as outcasts in the unknown land. 

Therefore, it should be normal for someone to evaluate the new norms of a new location for their cultural and professional progress and to liberate themselves from the constraints of long-standing cultural ideas and concepts from their part. People who lack mental flexibility are forced to confront hardships alone, feeling like outsiders in a strange and unfamiliar place. For instance, a friend of mine, developed several physical ailments while studying abroad just because she refused to eat the food commonly available in the country. In the end, she had to abandon her study and rush back home, with a huge backlog in her career graph which harmed no one but her.

In conclusion, it is really beneficial to understand the new ideas and methods of the new surroundings when we move which would provide us a better experience and allow us to live happily when we relocate.

Notes on the above answer: 

• The underlined words show that the topic sentence was poorly paraphrased, lowering the Task Achievement score.
• The words in both underlined and italics represent Grammatical faults that lower your Accuracy score. 
• The words in Italics suggest that the main causes of a lower Lexical Resources score are misspellings and a narrow vocabulary. 
• The number of linking words is low, and words in bold like “new”, “career”, and “ culture” have been repeated, lowering the score of Cohesion and Coherence.

IELTS writing band score 7

There is no denying the intensity of the debate on whether to adopt the new norms of the new country or adhere to one's traditional culture as more and more individuals choose to travel abroad for a career boost. To have a life filled with prosperity there, I think it is important to fully embrace the new culture of the new land where they relocate.

While it's true that the most vivid memories of our early years are connected to our origins, it's not necessary to adhere to these conventions throughout our lives. Moreover, when someone goes to a new nation, it is vital to have an open mind toward the customs of that country, so that they may grasp their ways of life without hesitation. For instance, many people fail to survive in a foreign land and return home with a heavy heart despite having great career prospects abroad. This is because of the lack of adaptability in their lifestyle and outlook, which costs them a huge loss in terms of their career tragectory and financial growth. 

So, it ought to be commonplace for a person to break free from the shackles of age-old cultural beliefs and notions from their birthland and assess the new standards of a new region for their cultural and professional evolution. Lack of adaptability in the minds of people, push them in becoming an outsider in a foreign land, left to deal with adversities all alone. To exemplify, the immigrants who fail to embrace new changes with grace, end up at the bottom of their fields in career and life, since they are shoved by society because of their narrow outlook towards life.

Overall, when we relocate, it is quite helpful to comprehend the novel concepts and approaches of the new environment. This would enable us to have a fulfilling and harmonous life overseas and provide us with an enhanced experience.

Notes on the above answer: 

• The words in both underlined and italics represent Grammatical faults that decrease your score in Accuracy.  
• The number of linking words could be higher, and words in bold like “career”, and “new” have been repeated. These points have brought down the overall score in Cohesion and Coherence. 
• The sentence marked with an underline is confusing and geneic, which has reduced the score in Task Achievement. 

IELTS writing band score 9

As more and more people choose to immigrate to a foreign land with the aspiration of a flourishing professional life, the debate of whether to stick to their orthodox cultural paradigms or embrace the customs of the new land is undeniable. I believe that one should wholeheartedly acknowledge the pristine folklore of their present homeland to blend better and have a harmonious living there.

Understandably, every culture has its merits and demerits, which need to be weighed properly before jumping to conclusions. Although it's true, that our roots are the most poignant parts of our formative years, it is not necessary to forcefully cling to them. Moreover, when someone moves to a new country, it is imperative to have an open mind toward the traditions there, so that they can understand their ways of life with an unbiased outlook. On top of that, people should welcome transformations in beliefs, outlooks, and tastes to help them adapt to different situations. For example, my father was always hesitant to try different cuisines like Japanese or Korean, as they looked different. But when we traveled to Japan, he indulged in authentic Japanese cuisine which opened his taste palette to fresh experiences and he ended up enjoying it. 

Hence, it should be customary for an individual to free themselves from the clutches of outdated rituals of their origin and evaluate the modern norms of fresh territory for their professional and cultural synergy. In case, they fail to do so, they are left with fragments of the traditional ethos of their past and present worlds, and end up as a misfit in both cultures. To illustrate, a cousin of mine was elated to shift to the United States for higher education, but after a year or so, she returned home because she failed to fuse with the people of America. This caused huge harm to her career and people skills and heightened her social anxiety levels. 

All in all, it is highly beneficial to understand the fresh ideas and methodologies of the place of habitat when we move. This will help us get an enriched experience and help us have a happy and satisfactory life abroad.

Conclusion

D-VIVID is available to be your mentor and to provide you with a variety of IELTS writing task 2 topics with answers classified by IELTS writing band score in order to help you prepare for your desired IELTS writing band score. After looking over our list of IELTS essay topics on different categories and types, you will definitely have a better understanding of the task and the outcomes that are required. With confidence, get in touch with us; we are here to help you through the entire IELTS exam process. D-VIVID is the resource you need to teach you the format of IELTS writing task 2 topics so you can evaluate your writing abilities as you start your IELTS training.