IELTS Writing Task 2: Today there is increase in anti-social behaviour and lack of respect for others. Causes and solutions.
Bhargavee Sisodia15 Oct 2024
In Task 2, applicants must compose an essay on a specified topic in 40 minutes for the IELTS writing exam. There should be a minimum of 250 words in the essay. This blog will describe the many types of IELTS essay topics, their evaluation standards, the appropriate method to approach the themes and provide sample responses for IELTS writing task 2 topics divided by different IELTS writing band scores.
There are six primary kinds of IELTS essay topics, and each one has its answer structures and patterns. Your IELTS writing band score might be lowered if you don't carefully evaluate the assigned topic and comprehend all of its formats before organizing your response.
- Problem Solution: Investigating the causes and consequences of important issues that are discussed in the essay subject is a must for these types of essays. Including personal suggestions and thoughts in these types of essays is not advised unless specifically asked.
- Advantage & Disadvantage: You have to enumerate the benefits and drawbacks of a certain topic for this kind of essay. The major body of your essay should be well-balanced, with a distinct paragraph for each of the chosen topic's advantages and disadvantages supported by examples. If the topic doesn't call for it, don't provide your opinion.
- Discussion: Writing an essay in this structure allows you to discuss any side of the topic. If something doesn't specifically ask for your opinion, don't share it. These articles will sometimes invite you to share your opinions; when that happens, you will need to explain your viewpoint.
- Balanced Opinion: In this kind of essay, you have to explain your points on the problem sufficiently. It is your responsibility to defend both sides without favoring one over the other. Your thoughts and viewpoints should be stated at the start and end of the essay.
- Opinion: In this essay, you must express your viewpoint on the specified topic, which is often agreement or disagreement. Provide the examiner with strong arguments and supporting documentation for your stance. Recall that you are not permitted to voice dissent or partial agreement with the subject at hand. Regardless of your stance, it must be forcefully maintained.
- Direct Question/Double Question: One or more direct questions are posed in this type of essay, and your response should be formatted as an essay with examples and a clear, concise style. Each subject statement question should be addressed in a different paragraph inside the main body using the appropriate linking techniques.
Your IELTS writing band score is determined by four primary evaluation categories, each of which accounts for 25% of your final result. To do well on each assessment, you should focus on all of the points listed below. Your ultimate score will be determined by how well you perform on these evaluation criteria.
IELTS Writing: Assessment criteria
The four categories on which IELTS writing task 2 topics are evaluated are:
- Task Achievement / Task Response: This criteria assesses the level of ability with which you have developed a response to the question in your IELTS writing task 2 topics. This assesses if you have written the required minimum of 250 words in the 40 minutes that you have been given, as well as whether you have supported your points with evidence and examples.
- Coherence and Cohesion: Coherence is the logical flow and coherence of ideas inside a document. A paragraph's thoughts become disjointed when it lacks cohesion. Cohesion is the capacity to make linguistic connections between sentences and produce a seamless text flow.
- Lexical Resource: This criteria evaluates the breadth and depth of your vocabulary in addition to the appropriateness of the word choice in light of the essay's subject.
- Grammatical Accuracy and Range: This section evaluates the accuracy, and complexity of your use of grammatical range. It covers things like using nouns, appropriate punctuation, tense, etc.
During the test: Five steps approach
To gain a good IELTS writing band score in the IELTS writing task 2 topics section, you must approach the essay topics strategically and plan them accordingly. Thus we have introduced a 5 step approach plan so that your strategy for the IELTS essay topics section is flawless.
Step 1: Analyze the Question
- Establish exactly what the topic statement is asking you to do
- Pick out keywords and underline instruction pointers
Step 2: Make a plan
- A good plan is essential to write an organized and well-aligned essay
- It will save your time and efforts as a whole
Step 3: Write the Introduction
- Paraphrase the question statement
- Answer the question directly
- Tell the readers/examiner what you are aiming to write in the following paragraphs
Step 4: Write the Main Body
- Divide your main body into at least 2 paragraphs
- These paragraphs tell the reader about your main pointers in detail
- Support your pointers with productive explanations and examples
Step 5: Write the conclusion
- Summarize your main pointers in the concluding paragraph
- Proofread your essay for mistakes and you are good to go
IELTS writing task 2 topics with answers
Determining the category of your essay
Correctly identifying the category that your essay fits into is one of the most crucial tasks you will have while arranging it. You will receive a lower mark in the Task Achievement criteria if you do not comprehend the correct category to which the essay belongs before you compose and write it.
For example, if your topic is “Today there is increase in anti-social behaviour and lack of respect for others. Causes and solutions."
The keyword in the question is “Causes and solutions”.
- This indicates that the subject falls within the category of "Problem Solution" essays.
- Since the issue does not require your viewpoint, you should write the essay purely in the third person and avoid expressing any opinions.
Problem Solution Essay: This kind of essay requires you to thoroughly explain the issue raised by the assigned topic before moving on to potential remedies. Ensure that the first paragraph of the main body addresses the problem and its cause, and the second paragraph discusses the remedy.
The Essay Structure
Introduction: Paraphrase the given information and answer the question asked in the topic statement.
Main Body: The main body should consist of at least 2 paragraphs.
- Paragraph 1: Discuss the causes of the given issue. Explain at least two causes in detail.
- Paragraph 2: Discuss the solutions to the given issue. Explain at least two solutions in detail
- Paragraph 3 (optional): If the causes are very complex, you can divide them evenly in the first two paragraphs, with the solution paragraph coming in third. You can include two paragraphs of the solution in the second and third paragraphs of the main body if the solutions are excessively detailed.
Conclusion: Restate your answer.
Now let's have a look at the possible answers to the above topic from the “Problem Solution” category for the IELTS writing band scores 6, 7, and 9.
IELTS writing band score 6
Nowadays, there is a significant increase in anti-social behavior and disrespect for people amongst the people of the society. This essay will go into detail about a few of the causes of this anti-socialism toward the community and offer helpful remedies.
Social media is one of the main reasons behind such issues faced by our community as the content they show online are unfiltered, brutal, and sometimes inappropriate for public viewing. These contents encourage its viewers to deviate from the honest path and embrace illegal things like drugs, violence and crime. Moreover, withdrawal symptoms from drugs and alcohol can alter the personality and behavior of a person completely blurring the line between the right and wrong. Severe criminal activities all over the world are an effect of such change in our society and the mentality of people.
Rectifying this issue requires some basic measures like censoring the social media content and measuring their brutality before broadcasting. Among other measures, there should be stricter laws against narcoticts, drinking and driving, and violent crimes. Other than that, in order to provide proper justice, our government should impose severe penalties on vicious offenders. For example, if people are feareful about the consequence of their actions, they are more likely to stick to the legal paths and avoid disrupting the social harmony.
In conclusion, substance abuse, brutal social media content and lack of law and order in our society has brought upon such problems in our social lives. Hence erradicating the roots of these issues are its only solution.
Nots on the above answer:
- The underlined words depict a lack of paraphrasing the topic statement, lowering the score in Task Achievement.
- The words in both underlined and italics represent Grammatical faults that lower your Accuracy score.
- The words in Italics indicate spelling mistakes coupled with a lack of vocabulary range are the key factors behind a lower score in Lexical Resources.
- The number of linking words is extremely low, and words in bold like “social”, and “ people” have been repeated, lowering the score of Cohesion and Coherence.
IELTS writing band score 7
Increasing atrocity is one of the main side effects of the social unrest and steadily declining bloodline that have upset our society's equilibrium. This essay will go into detail about a few causes of this kind of issue for the community and some solutions.
It is difficult to overlook the influence of social media, starting with the causes of such ludicrous public acts. Unfiltered remarks and information on several open online forums have misled citizens and led them down a path of social exclusion, violence, and contempt for other people. Furthermore, drugs, alcohol, and nicotine can cause people to become aloof, which can influence their personalities and cause eye-opening changes in behavior. To give an example, one can consider the number of criminal activities on the news about underage drink and drive offenders, intoxicated murder suspects, and many more.
Some basic measures, such tougher government regulations, shorter screen time for kids, and stricter legal norms, might be adopted by society to address the problem. First and foremost, our legal system has to include strict guidelines for violent acts and hostile online content. Also, our government should impose severe penalties on vicious offenders to drive people away from the wrong paths. Lastly, to steer their viewers away from anti-social behavior, our internet resources should have proper censoring and screening process to avoid influencing people towards a path of social discrimination and disrespect.
In summation, some of the primary causes of the withdrew behavior among the general public include lacking legal and government standards and brutal digital content. It can be managed with some changes in our legal and governmental standards and proper censoring of digital content.
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 “government”, “behavior”, and “social” have been repeated. The sub-sentence “changes in our legal and governmental standards and proper censoring of digital content” increases repetition and reduces cohesion. These points have brought down the overall score in Cohesion and Coherence.
IELTS writing band score 9
The social uproar and gradually eroding lineage have disrupted the harmony of our society, and moral degradation is one of its major side effects. This essay will elaborate on several reasons behind such communal disrespect as well as its productive solutions.
To begin with the reasons behind such outrageous behaviors among the general public, the impact of social media is hard to ignore. Unfiltered comments and content over several public platforms on the internet have brainwashed civilians and dragged them toward the path of violence, social isolation, and human disregard. Moreover, reclusiveness among citizens can be a result of narcotics, alcoholism, and other addictions which have the potential of disrupting the behavior and muddling the personality of individuals. To illustrate, there have been several heinous criminal activities every year in our country where the culprit is intoxicated. Additionally, youngsters show minimum respect and concern towards worldly affairs, our legacy, or anyone else as they are engrossed in their world ruled by online content and selective journalism.
To rectify the situation, some fundamental actions could be embraced by society such as rigid law and order, stricter government norms, and screening of digital content. Firstly, our judiciary system must incorporate stringent rules for brutal crimes and aggressive digital materials. Secondly, our government should introduce stern punishments for ruthless criminals with fast-track trials for instant justice. There should be ample fear within people to prevent them from deviating from the righteous pathway. Lastly, our online resources, be it entertainment or news, should be properly screened with the mindset of their target audience in mind, so that their viewers are pushed away from anti-social conduct.
In summary, leniency in legal procedures, governmental ignorance, and uncensored digital assets are some of the main reasons behind the withdrawn demeanor among the people of the community. It can be controlled with inflexible rules and a few more efforts from the ruling cabinets.
Some more essay samples
During your preparation for the essay section, you need to skim through as many samples of IELTS writing task 2 topics as possible. Here are some examples of essay topics for IELTS task 2.
- Nowadays many people complain that they have difficulties having enough sleep. What are problems caused by lack of sleep? What can be done about this lack of sleep?
- Some people say History is one of most important school subjects other people think that, in today world,subject like science and technology are more important than History. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
- Some people believe that nowadays we have too many choices. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
- In some countries, young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between finishing high school and starting university studies. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for young people who decide to do this.
- 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.
Conclusion
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