Lesson 4 – Tips on Writing

Today we are going to consider the Writing test

Today’s lesson is another overview this time for the writing test. This part of the test is often the most difficult and it important that you spend some time understanding what is required as well as practising and getting your work checked.

Let’s begin as ever with some tips and advice:

The writing for most people is the most difficult area of the IELTS. Many people follow all the tips and advice that they find in the books and online but are very surprised when they get a low score in writing. The reason for this is that writing is very difficult to do alone. It is hard to find your own grammar and language errors and of all the test parts it is the one that can get worse rather than better the more you practice (without having it checked). This is because if you are making mistakes that you are unaware of you will learn those mistakes and then it will be hard to undo them.

 

1. So my first and I think the very best tip for your IELTS writing is to get someone to look at it and point out any errors. This could be a fellow student or a native speaker BUT if you can (you may need to pay for this but it is worth it) get a teacher who knows about the IELTS exam to go over your writing, show you where you are making mistakes, show you HOW TO CORRECT these and explain your writing against the IELTS Band Descriptors so that you can see how far you are meeting these.
2. Make sure that you understand exactly what the questions are asking you to do. What kind of data are you given in Task 1, what kind of letter do you need to write in General Training Task 1 and what kind of essay is being given in Task 2. Know all the types and how to approach these. Is it a single task, two-part or three-part question? This is important as if you don’t answer all the parts you will lose marks.
3. Then think about your preparation – with Task 1 it will be looking at the data and picking out the details to discuss. In Task 1 General Training it will be looking at the letter and deciding exactly what the situation is and what points you want to mention. In Task 2 it will be brainstorming the topic and choosing some good ideas to write about.
4. The next stage of the writing process is the one that is mostly left out (from what I see) and that is the actual planning stage. You cannot go from brainstorming to writing, you MUST organise your thoughts and ideas into the paragraphs you are going to write. This will make your writing logical and help it to flow well. Even professional writers who are native speakers plan their work before they begin to write – to fail to do this will result in chaos. I’ll be saying a lot more about this later in the lessons on planning writing.
5. You must time your work well. Task 2 carries more weight than Task 1 so you need enough time for this to make it good. Task 1 is important too so don’t skimp on this and make sure you give both tasks the right amount of time.
6. The word limits are not absolute but it is a good idea to stick fairly close to them. If your writing is less than the word requirement you will lose marks if it is more it will not lose marks but will affect your ability to produce writing that is coherent and error free. The ideal is 150-180 for Task 1 and 250 – 280 for Task 2. If your English skills are really good then you could write a longer essay but the chance of error increases the longer your writing and also the chance of not having time to do the second task and also check your work also increases.
7. Certain features are required for each of the bands. If you are getting 6.5 consistently then is it possible that your work has quite a bit of repetition of words and phrases and not enough use of synonyms as well as grammar errors. There may be other things too. You should study the IELTS Band Descriptors to see what features are important at each level and also which features you want to avoid in order to improve your band score. (A copy of the Band descriptors is attached to this page.)
8. Create a list of the errors that you often make in your writing (these will probably include use of articles, tenses, prepositions, pronouns etc.. these are common errors I have found in IELTS writing). You will know which features are the ones that you often make mistakes with. You should know these so that these are the things you check first (or if you don’t have much checking time) or even better you can make sure they are correct as you are using them in your essays.
9. Remember that the IELTS writing is a test of your English and NOT your ideas. The ideas MUST come second and if you can’t express the ideas you have -then choose different ideas!

Key skills to develop:

 

• In Task 1 it is vital that you know how to select the most relevant information. Look for the highest, lowest and anything that stands out and is significant. You do not have to mention everything. Practice scanning data for these features (not just in IELTS books but in newspapers and other articles and online resources). For general training you must decide what kind of letter is required – formal, semi-formal or informal – this is vital as it will dictate how you begin and end the letter and also what kind of language you must use.

 

• Planning your writing is vital too. If you say you have no time then you don’t really understand the writing process. A good plan will help you to write more quickly and also more accurately. A good IELTS piece of writing has to be controlled and you cannot control it if it isn’t planned. Make sure that part of your practice for writing is about making plans for your essays. Have a look at this advice to help you and see what other advice you can find on planning from your favourite IELTS blogs.

 

• Make sure you know how many words you write per line – this will help you to determine the length of your writing.

 

• Writing takes quite some time to improve, you can’t do it overnight. In the beginning don’t time yourself but try to take as long as you need to create your perfect Task 1 and 2 at the band you want. Really try hard to get all the features on the descriptors and feel some passion about writing this essay to get it at the band you want. By doing this you will get a feeling of how you need to write to get that band (if you can get someone to check it then this will help you see how close you are to your goal). Do this for Task 1 and Task 2 – if it takes 2 or 3 hours per Task don’t worry in the long run it will be time well spent.

 

• Make sure that you analyse model essays at the band you are looking for. Don’t just read these and put them in your folder. Really analyse the words and sentences – what makes them great at this band? Pick out some of the words and sentences and make sure YOU USE THESE in your next Tasks.

 

• The grammar you need for IELTS writing is not necessarily difficult but your sentences should be interesting and well developed. Write down 6 simple sentences about a topic and then see how you can improve them by adding adjectives, adverbs, more sophisticated synonyms and then try and combine them with good linking words. You will then see how sentences can be built up into better and more engaging writing. If you can keep the examiner interested to the end of your essay then you will have done a good job with your writing and will be on your way to a great band score!.

 

• Finally practice writing introductory sentences to your paragraphs especially the introduction and conclusion. A good opening will make the examiner have a good band in mind and a good conclusion can lift your essay too.

 

Things to do for writing:

Read a wide range of models of all different types of task

• write down words and phrases that you would like to use yourself
• pay attention to linking words and sentence openings make sure you have a good range of these to use
• writing takes a long time to improve – start by making small improvements and this will gradually build into much better writing

Get a list of different Task 2 questions

• decide what type of question it is
• decide what you have to do to answer it
• brainstorm and plan it (you don’t have to write it)

Go over IELTS reading passages (the reading can help you improve your writing)

• look at headings and see how these flow logically (this is how your writing should work)
• look for vocabulary, linking words and sentence openings (aren’t these amazing? why not use some of them yourself?)
• try to understand how texts are constructed and how the paragraphs relate to each other then choose some that you can include in your next essay

 

Don’t forget, if there is anything you don’t understand or can’t find send a message via Contact us

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Let’s have a go at a writing exercise

 

Here are some writing exercises for you.

 

Firstly punctuation exercises – punctuation is a feature in the descriptors

 

http://www.gapfillers.co.uk/?atk=2401

http://www.gapfillers.co.uk/?atk=2412

 

The second is an IELTS essay (Task 2). Can you add in adjectives, linkers etc..and try to improve it to make it around Band 7?

 

http://www.gapfillers.co.uk/default.aspx?atk=7602

 

Don’t forget, if there is anything you don’t understand or can’t find send a message via Contact us

Now you’re done!

(Tomorrow we will consider Speaking and how you can imporve your performance in this part of the exam)

Good luck and let’s make great progress with IELTS!