Some people prefer to spend their lives doing the same things and avoiding change. Others, however, think that change is always a good thing. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Bhargavee Sisodia07 Aug 2024
IELTS Writing task 2: Assessment criteria
The four categories on which IELTS writing task 2 topics are evaluated are:
- Task Achievement / Task Response: This criterion assesses how well you have formulated a response to the question or statement presented in your IELTS writing task 2 topics. This also assesses whether you have used evidence and examples to support your points and if you have reached the minimum 250-word count within the stipulated 40 minutes.
- Coherence and Cohesion: Coherence is the logical unity and organization of ideas in a text. Lack of coherence means that points within one paragraph are unrelated. Cohesion is the connection of sentences through linguistic means, which allows to achieve a smooth text flow. Cohesive elements include conjunctions, reference words, and substitution.
- Lexical Resource: This criterion evaluates how advanced and extensive your use of vocabulary is, and whether words have been used appropriately in the context.
- Grammatical Accuracy and Range: This section checks how advanced, accurate, and extensive your use of grammatical devices is.
Dig deeper into Coherence: List of Linking words for IELTS Writing Task
Linking words serves as a bridge for joining ideas within different paragraphs. They are pivotal for increasing the overall readability and coherence of your essay and are essential for establishing a connection between sentences. The examiner should see a range of linking words or connectors within your essay to give you a higher score in the Coherence and Cohesion criterion which accounts for 25% of your IELTS writing band score.
Clarification: Used for clarifying an idea or statement
- I mean
- To simplify
- To be clear
- Let me explain
- More precisely
- In other words
- In explanation
- To clearly define
Time order: To elaborate an idea with proper time parameters
- In the beginning
- Then
- Later
- Meanwhile
- At the same time
- During
- Before
- After
Condition: To mention a condition within your idea or sentences
- If
- Unless
- Even if
- Only if
- Because of
- While
- Except if
- In that case
Example: To give an example
- For example
- For instance
- Such as
- To illustrate
- Like
- As a sample
- As revealed by
- To exemplify
IELTS writing task 2: Planning your essay
General Idea behind planning your essay
One of the most important tasks before writing your essay is to plan it properly. You need to prepare a map in your head with all the pointers that need to be addressed while writing the essay.
Why do you need to plan the essay before writing it?
When we try to assemble a piece of furniture at home, the first thing we require is a manual with all the relevant instructions. Planning an essay before writing it is like creating a manual for constructing the essay. It will make your writing process smoother and faster.
Time management
Within the stipulated 40 minutes, you can spend 10 minutes properly reading the topic of the essay and planning its response. If you aim to write 270 words in your essay, it would require an average of 13 sentences. Thus if you assign 2 minutes for writing each sentence, you would still have a surplus of 4 minutes to proofread your entire essay.
IELTS writing task 2 Sample topics with answers
How to know which category this Essay falls in?
During the planning phase, you need to determine which category your IELTS writing task 2 topics fall into. To do that, you need to analyze the instruction words. In this case, the instruction words are “Discuss both these views”, and “Give your own opinion.”.
- “Discuss both these views”: Implies that the essay belongs to the category of Discussion Essays.
- “Give your own opinion.”: It implies that you are required to give your personal views on the topic, which means it belongs to the Opinion Essay category.
Thus we can conclude it is an essay belonging to a mixed category of “Discussion and Opinion” based essay.
While attempting such essays you need to discuss both views of the topic in the main body and provide your opinion in the Introduction and Conclusion paragraphs.
Structure of the essay
Introduction: Paraphrase the given information, write a thesis statement stating you will discuss both views, and state your stance on the topic (agree/disagree). Do not agree/disagree partially, as opinion essays need a firm stance on one side of the problem statement.
Main Body: The main body should consist of at least 2 paragraphs.
- Paragraph 1: Discuss the first side of the argument. Give specific reasons with examples to support it.
- Paragraph 2: Discuss the second side of the argument. Give specific reasons with examples to support it.
Conclusion: Restate your point of view and give the essay a satisfying closure.
Now let's have a look at the possible answers to the above topic from the “Discussion + Opinion” category for the IELTS writing band scores 6, 7, and 9.
IELTS writing band score 6
Changes are the most important part of the life of humans over the past few years. Some people welcome the change and carry on with life, whereas several others stick to their old methods of life and refuse to embrace them. In my opinion, changes have to be accepted as they are inevitable in life.
When discusing the positive aspects of change, it is necessary to mention the instant simplification of life that individuals in today's world experienced. Cashless transactions have become more common as technology have advanced, access to maps have made travel much easier and faster, and electric vehicles have helped to reduce pollution. People now live much easier lives as a result of a number of big changes in their lives over the years. Technology have given us the gift of better life with several more benefits which are hard to ignore.
However, some people choose to ignore the positives and focus on the negatives of such reforms and stick to their old patterns of living. Like two sides of the coin, changes bring in a lot of drawbacks along with the benifits. For example, social changes have slowly washed away our social heritage, the hast internet and technological advancement have increased cases of fraud and hacking. Privacy and security of data are at risk because of such advancements as well.
In conclusion, I believe that the positives and negatives of change are unavoidable. So the best approach is to accept them and move forward rather than sticking to the old methods of living while being scared of the drawbacks of such change.
Notes on the above answer:
- The words in both underlined and italics represent Grammatical faults that lower your Accuracy score.
- The words in Italics show spelling mistakes plus the least variations in vocabulary are both the key factors behind a lower score in Lexical Resources.
- The number of linking words is very low, and words in bold like “change”, “life”, “negatives” and “positives” have been repeated, because of which the overall score of Cohesion and Coherence has decreased.
IELTS writing band score 7
Change has played a significant role in every person's life. While some choose not to welcome such changes, others choose to accept them and move forward. But, I believe that changes are inevitable aspects of life, so it's necessary to accept them and move on.
While discussing the positive aspects of change, one needs to mention the instant simplification of life experienced by individuals in the current day and age. Due to the advancement of technology, cash less transactions have been normalized, accessibility to maps has made traveling much easier and faster, and electric vehicles have suppressed the elevation of pollution. Today, people are experiencing a much evolved and hasslefree life due to a series of prominent reforms. Not to mention, there has been a significant upliftment in our social life due to such evolutions in society.
Regardless of the benefits, some people focus on the drawbacks of such social and technical refactorings and cling to their old beliefs and patterns. Sure, some challenges accompany changes and hamper our natural flow of life. To illustrate, if a person who is used to working at night is suddenly asked to work early in the morning, and someone who is a morning person is urged to work late at night, their productivity and zest will be completely hampered. Some could also argue that the cons of technical innovations are higher than the pros. For example, technological evolution has given rise to advanced hacking systems, internet fraud, digital security breaches, and privacy threats. Social advancement is slowly eroding our cultural heritage along with it.
To conclude, in my opinion, change has its fair share of benefits and shortcomings, where its positives outweigh its negatives. People should embrace them gradually while proceeding with innovation and mindfully avoiding its harm.
Notes on the above answer:
- The words in bold such as “But, I believe that” (hedging) and “To conclude, in my opinion” (weakening statements) give the statements an unnecessary redundancy affecting the clarity of thought and decreasing Coherence.
- The number of linking words is lower than expected, and words in bold like “change”, “life”, and “advancement” have been repeated, because of which the overall score of Cohesion and Coherence has decreased.
- Words in Italics indicate spelling errors or a lack of Lexical Resources.
IELTS writing band score 9
Over the past few decades, change, be it social, scientific, or technological, has been a key factor in the lives of every individual. Some people refrain from revamping their lives and try to anchor to their old patterns and beliefs, whereas others decide to embrace them. Nevertheless, I feel like alterations are inescapable facts of life, thus it is imperative to adapt to them and proceed forward.
Speaking of the welcoming social reforms that most individuals have well accepted, one cannot simply ignore that today's society imparts equal rights to everyone irrespective of their caste, creed, or gender. Not to mention lifestyle modifications through technological advancements have made our lives easy, seamless, and accessible. A few instances of such technical evolution are online banking which has unloaded the burden of physical financing, advanced GPS tracking systems like maps that have made traveling effortlessly easy, and electronic vehicles along with solar power, which have helped our earth to get healthier. Even in disastrous situations like the COVID-19 pandemic, people went through a lot of refreshing transitions in their life schema like remote working culture, hygienic habits, and digitized education, to name a few.
On the other hand, realignment, in any form, requires a lot of adjustments and acclimatizations. Hence, certain folks refrain from such progress and prefer to follow their old patterns of life since they disfavor such mutations due to their negative impacts. Without a doubt, innovations have their fair share of alarming drawbacks. For instance, online bank transactions have increased the level of fraud and hacking, data security is at high risk, and electronic devices are the primary cause of digital eye strain and addiction syndrome. Moreover, our cultural heritage and legacy are on the brink of extinction due to several social reforms.
To summarise, it is evident that the benefits of change are greater than its harms and the problems can be overcome by the use of these changes in moderation and proper balance. Hence, my opinion is to accept the change with open arms while being aware of its shortcomings to avoid them.
Conclusion
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