Date: 8/7/2012
Academic Writing
In IELTS writing is
divided into two parts:
Task 1: It includes Bar chart, Table, Pie chart, Line graph
etc.
Task 2: Essay of general topics
It is important to understand how the examiner is going to grade our
writing, before the beginning of our preparation. Mindful things to memorize
while starting our writing on an exam or during the practice are:
1.
Task Response
Ø
Write between 150-200 words in Task 1 and
250-325 words in Task 2
Ø
Clearly identify the task in the introduction
Ø
State your position in the introduction and
conclusion
Ø
Relate each paragraph with the task
2.
Coherence and cohesion:
Ø
Write in paragraph
Ø
Give clear introduction ,main argument and
conclusion
Ø
Use example and reason for the main arguments
Ø
Link the sentences using linking words. Some examples are:-
Because of this, …
As this shows, …
As can clearly be seen from this example, …
It is clear
that…
Thus, the idea that…
To illustrate this, …
After analyzing both points of
view, …
To provide a summary, …
Without a doubt, this causes…
Ø
Use the appropriate punctuation
3.
Lexical Resource
Ø
Do not repeat the same wording of the question
Ø
Determine if you have repeated same words
consistently, if so avoid repetition
Ø
Practice the use of variety of vocabulary
Ø
Be sure to use vocabulary specific to the topic
of the question
4.
Grammatical range and accuracy
Ø
Use correct spelling and punctuation
Ø
Use parallel structures
Ø
Write variety of sentence types, like: simple,
compound, complex and compound-complex sentences
After analyzing all the marking strategies, lets discuss what to include in each paragraph of essay.
Introduction paragraph
- A background sentence giving some background information on the essay topic.
- A more detailed sentence linking the background sentence to the thesis.
-A thesis that presents your point of view on your given topic.
-An outline sentence declaring the 2 points you are going to use to support your thesis.
Supporting paragraph 1
-A topic sentence illustrating the first point you will be presenting to support your thesis (this point taken from your outline sentence).
-A sentence showing a real-life example of this topic in action.
-A discussion sentence that shows how your example links or proves your topic sentence.
In this step, it is necessary to understand how to introduce examples. One piece of
language to do that is of course “for example”, then there is “for
instance” or “an illustration of this is”. But best way to illustrate the example is using
“if”, which is an excellent alternative for introducing examples, not least
because it typically leads into a more extended example with a greater
range of topic vocabulary.
-A conclusion sentence that links this entire paragraph back to your thesis.
Supporting paragraph 2
-A topic sentence illustrating the second point you will be presenting to support your thesis (this point taken from your outline sentence).
-A sentence showing a real-life example of this topic in action.
-A discussion sentence that shows how your example links or proves your topic sentence.
-A conclusion sentence that links this entire paragraph back to your thesis.
Conclusion paragraph
-A summary sentence that briefly states the 2 points you discussed in your supporting paragraphs.
-A restatement of your thesis using different words.
- A prediction or recommendation based on the topic you have been given.
Here are some Transition Words, which can be useful for both
Task 1 and Task 2.
Big Adjectives
|
Small Adjectives
|
Steady Adjectives
|
Others
|
Spectacular
Dramatic
Substantial
Significant
Sudden
Sharp
Rapid
Noticeable
Wide
Considerable
|
Modest
Slight
Marginal
|
Steady
Consistent
Gradual
|
Overall trend
Downward trend
Upward Trend
Upturn
Downturn
|
Up Verbs
|
Down Verbs
|
Soar
Leap
Surge
Climb
Rocket
Grow
Increase
Rise
Peak
|
Plummet
Sink
Dip
Drop
Slip back
Dive
Decline
Plunge
Slumped
Fall
Decrease
|
Cause
|
Effect
|
Accordingly
As a result
Because
Because of
Consequently
Due to
Eventually
For this reason
|
Have an effect on
Hence
Owing to
Reason for
Since
So
Therefore
Thus
|
Comparison
|
Contrast
|
Almost the same as
Common with
Correspond to
In the same way
At the same time
Just as
Like, Alike
Resemblance
Resemble
Similar to
Similarly
To be parallel to
Also
|
Different from
Differ from
Even so
However
In contrast to
In opposition to
Less than
More than
Otherwise
Slower than
Still
Nonetheless
Nevertheless
Although
Even though
Yet
Even if
Even so
Unlike
|
Time
|
Degree
|
Before
After
Since
Next
Then
Soon
At the same time
While
Meanwhile
|
Most important
First
Principally
Above all Primarily
In the first place
Less important
Second
In the second place
To a lesser degree
|
Explanation
|
Adding more
Information and summarize
|
In other words
Such as
To clarify
Like
For instance
For example
That is
To illustrate
Namely
To begin with
|
In addition
Moreover
Besides
Furthermore
Also
As well as
What’s more
Above all
In conclusion
In summary
Lastly
Finally
To sum up
To conclude
To recapitulate
In short
|
Pie chart
While describing pie chart, the word percentage may be often
repeated. To avoid this chance of repeating we can replace this word by
proportion, amount, number, majority, minority etc. It is always better to use
word percentage than percent. The correct way to use percent is per cent, even we
use it less likely.
It is better to use percentage into fractions and with some
appropriate words, like:
20%-One fifth or a fifth
21%-Around one fifth
24%-Almost a quarter
25%-One fourth or a quarter
33%-One third or a third
50 %-One half, a half
67%-Two third
66%-Precisely two thirds
75%-Three fourth or three quarters
73%-A significant majority, approximately three quarters
87%-A very large proportion
5%- A small fraction, an insignificant proportion
Noun Phrase
|
Former/respectively/such
|
One possible
explanation is…….,
Another is………
|
Of the two, the former
would appear to be
|
It is clear that sales of smart phones and laptops both
rose substantially
|
by 48 per cent and 23 per cent respectively.
|
A number of
suggestions have been put forward…………
|
One such
suggestion is
|
Note: If you look for everything, you may find nothing, but if you
look for something, you have every chance of finding it.
References:
http://www.ielts-blog.com/category/ielts-preparation-tips/writing-tips/page/2/
http://www.dcielts.com/