IELTSGENERAL TRAINING

WRITING

PAPER FORMAT: Two writing tasks.

TIMING: 60 minutes.

NUMBER OF QUESTIONS: 2.

TASK TYPES: In task 1 you have to respond a situation, for example: in a letter, requesting information or explaining a

situation.

In task 2 you have to write an essay to respond a point of view, argument, or problem.

ANSWERING: You have to answer on the booklet, and must be written in full.

WRITING TASK 1FORMAT

You are presented a situation, and you have to write a personal response in a formal, semi-formal or informal letter of at least 150 words. You have to give or require information, and/or explain a situation, to do it you need to ask for and/or provide general factual information, express needs, wants, likes, opinions, etc. The most common topics to write are: writing to a college about problems with accommodation, writing to a new employer about time management problems, writing to a local newspaper about a plan to develop a local airport, writing to a renting agency to sort out problem with the heating system. The style depends who they are asked to write to.

TIMING

You should not spend more than 20 minutes, and you have to write 150 words, if you write more you will have less time to write the task 2.

REMEMBER: Your response has to be according with the topic and written in full, and you cannot copy information from another source or you will be penalized for plagiarism.

You do not need to include any addresses at the head of your letter.

ABILITY ASSESSED

Ability to follow English letter-writing conventions like: order, style, how you start and how you finish, language accurately and appropriately and how you organise and link information coherently and cohesively.

TIPS AND STRATEGIES●The most important thing is to answer the question.

●You should write about why you are writing to your friend and then give four bullet points. You have to write only these five things.

●Then you have to put each thing into a separate paragraph.

●To write each point in order, you can include keywords, or even better, synonyms or paraphrases of those keywords.

Lexical resource: It refers to the range of vocabulary used and the accuracy and appropriacy of that use in terms of the specific task.

Grammatical range and accuracy: It refers to the range and accurate use of grammatical resource as manifested in the test writing at the sentence level.

WRITING TASK 2FORMAT

In this task you have to write a semi-formal/neutral discursive essay of at least 250 words. In the task instructions you find the information about a point of view, argument or problem, then the instructions tell how to discuss this, providing general factual information, outlining and/or presenting a solution, justifying an opinion, evaluating evidence and ideas. You need to write about interesting topics, for example: whether children’s leisure activities should be educational, why families are not so close as they used to be and how they could be brought closer, how environmental problems can be solved, who should pay for the care of old people, whether smoking should be banned in public places.

TIMING

You should not spend more than 40 minutes on this task.

REMEMBER: Your response has to be according with the topic and written in full, and you cannot copy information from another source or you will be penalized for plagiarism.

ABILITY ASSESSED

Ability to follow English discursive writing conventions like: order, style, how you start and finish discursive writing and how you organise and link information coherently and cohesively, and the use of language accurately and appropriately.

STRATEGIES

●Analyze the question. What is my audience?, What is the topic?, What is your purpose?.

●Make notes of ideas. The sample notes are written in the box. To the right is a brief explanation of what these notes mean.

●Make a plan. Decide which of the ideas will definitely be used in your essay. Organise them logically.

●Write the essay following the plan.

●Check for mistakes.

HOW IT’S MARKED

Task response: It requires that you formulate and develop a position in relation to a given prompt in the form of a question or statement. Ideas should be supported by evidence, and examples may be drawn from your own experience. You have to write 250 words at least.

Coherence and cohesion: The message has to be clear and fluid, how the response organises and link information, ideas and language. Coherence refers to the linking of ideas through logical sequencing, and cohesion refers to the varied and appropriate use of cohesive devices, for example: logical connectors, pronouns and conjunctions.

Lexical resource: It refers to the range of vocabulary used and the accuracy and appropriacy of that use in terms of the specific task.

Grammatical range and accuracy: It refers to the range and accurate use of grammatical resource as manifested in the test writing at the sentence level.

HOW IELTS IS SCORED? IELTS results are reported on a 9-band scaleBand score

Skill level Description

9 Expert user The test taker has fully operational command of the language. Their use of English is appropriate, accurate and fluent, and shows complete understanding.

8 Very good user The test taker has fully operational command of the language with only occasional unsystematic inaccuracies and inappropriate usage. They may misunderstand some things in unfamiliar situations. They handle complex and detailed argumentation well.

7 Good user The test taker has operational command of the language, though with occasional inaccuracies, inappropriate usage and misunderstandings in some situations. They generally handle complex language well and understand detailed reasoning.

6 Competent user The test taker has an effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriate usage and misunderstandings. They can use and understand fairly complex language, particularly in familiar situations.

5 Modest user The test taker has a partial command of the language and copes with overall meaning in most situations, although they are likely to make many mistakes. They should be able to handle basic communication in their own field.

4 Limited user The test taker's basic competence is limited to familiar situations. They frequently show problems in understanding and expression. They are not able to use complex language.

3 Extremely limited user

The test taker conveys and understands only general meaning in very familiar situations. There are frequent breakdowns in communication.

2 Intermittent user The test taker has great difficulty understanding spoken and written English.

1 Non-user The test taker has no ability to use the language except a few isolated words.

0 Did not attempt the test

The test taker did not answer the questions.