How to
Write an IELTS Essay
On this page you will find some guidance on how you should write
an IELTS essay.
These are some of the types of IELTS essay we will look at:
·
Agree /
disagree
·
Discuss
two opinions
·
Advantages
& disadvantages
·
Causes
(reasons) & solutions
·
Causes
(reasons) & effects
·
Problems
& solutions
·
Compare
& contrast
Not every essay will fit one of these patterns, but many do. You
may get some of these tasks mixed up. For example, you could be asked to give
your opinion on an issue, and then discuss the advantages or disadvantages of
it. The golden rule is to ALWAYS read the question very
carefully to see
exactly what you are being asked to do.
In order to answer this, let’s first look at a sample question:
|
You should spend about 40 minutes on
this task.Present a written argument to an educated reader with no specialist
knowledge of the following topic.
In the last 20
years there have been significant developments in the field of information
technology (IT), for example the World Wide Web and communication by email.
However, future developments in IT are likely to have more negative effects
than positive.
To what extent do
you agree with this view?
Give reasons for your answer and
include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.
You should write at least 250 words.
|
An IELTS essay is structured like any other essay; you just need
to make it shorter. There are three key elements:
1. Introduction
2. Body Paragraphs
3. Conclusion
We will look at each of these in turn, using the essay question
above as an example.
1)
Introduction
You should keep your introduction for the IELTS essay short.
Remember you only have 40 minutes to write the essay, and some of this time
needs to be spent planning. Therefore, you need to be able to write your
introduction fairly quickly so you can start writing your body paragraphs.
You should do just two things:
·
State the topic of the
essay, using some basic facts (that you may be able to take from the question)
·
Say what you are going to
write about
Here is an example introduction for the above essay question about
IT:
The
last two decades have seen enormous changes in the way people's lives are
affected by IT, with many advances
in this field. However, while these technological advances have brought many
benefits to the world, it can be argued that future IT developments will produce more negative effects
than positive ones.
As you can see, the first sentence makes sure it refers to the
topic (IT) and uses facts about IT taken from the question. Note that these are
paraphrased - you must not copy from the rubric!
The second part then clearly sets out on what the essay will be about and confirms the writer’s opinion
(some questions may not ask for your opinion, but this one does).
2) Body
Paragraphs
For an IELTS essay, you should have 2 or 3 body paragraphs - no
more, and no less.
For your body paragraph, each paragraph should contain one
controlling idea, and have sentences to support this.
Let’s look at the first paragraph for the essay about IT. The
essay is about the benefits and drawbacks of IT. So these will need to be
discussed in separate paragraphs.
Here is the first body paragraph:
To
begin, email has made communication, especially abroad,
much simpler and faster, resulting in numerous benefits for commerce and business.
Furthermore, the World Wide Web means
that information on
every conceivable subject is now available to us. For example, people can
access news, medical advice, online education courses and much more via the
internet. It is evident that these improvements have made life far easier
and more convenient for large numbers of people and will continue to do so for
decades to come.
The controlling idea in this first paragraph is the 'benefits of IT', and
there are two supporting ideas, which are underlined. No drawbacks are
discussed as the paragraph would then lose coherence.
Most of the essay will focus on the negative aspects of IT, as the
writer says there are more negative effects in the introduction. So the next
two paragraphs are about these.
The topic sentence in the next paragraph therefore tells us we are
changing the focus to the negative points:
Nevertheless,
the effects of this new technology have not all been beneficial. For example, many people feel that the widespread use of email is
destroying traditional forms of communication such as letter writing, telephone
and face-to-face conversation. This could result in a decline in people's basic
ability to socialize and interact with each other on a day-to-day basis.
The final body paragraph gives the last negative effect:
In
addition, the large size of the Web has meant that it is nearly impossible to
regulate and control. This has led to many concerns regarding children
accessing unsuitable websites and viruses. Unfortunately, this kind of problem
might even get worse in the future at least until more regulated systems are
set up.
3)
Conclusion
The conclusion only needs to be one or two sentences, and you can
do the following:
·
Re-state what the essay is
about (re-write the last sentence of your introduction in different words)
·
Give some thoughts about
the future
Here is an example:
In
conclusion, developments in IT have brought many benefits, yet I believe
developments relating to new technology in the future are likely to produce
many negative effects that must be addressed if we are to avoid damaging
impacts to individuals and society.
The full IELTS Essay:
In the last 20 years there have been
significant developments in the field of information technology (IT), for
example the World Wide Web and communication by email. However, future
developments in IT are likely to have more negative effects than positive.
To what extent do you agree with this
view? Give reasons for your answer and include any
relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.
The
last two decades have seen enormous changes in the way people's lives are
affected by IT, with many advances in this field. However, while these
technological advances have brought many benefits to the world, it can be
argued that future IT developments will produce more negative effects than
positive ones.
To
begin, email has made communication, especially abroad, much simpler and
faster, resulting in numerous benefits for commerce and business. Furthermore,
the World Wide Web means that information on every conceivable subject is now
available to us. For example, people can access news, medical advice, online
education courses and much more via the internet. It is evident that these
improvements have made life far easier and more convenient for large numbers of
people and will continue to do so for decades to come.
Nevertheless,
the effects of this new technology have not all been beneficial. For example,
many people feel that the widespread use of email is destroying traditional
forms of communication such as letter writing, telephone and face-to-face
conversation. This could result in a decline in people's basic ability to
socialize and interact with each other on a day-to-day basis.
In
addition, the large size of the Web has meant that it is nearly impossible to
regulate and control. This has led to many concerns regarding children
accessing unsuitable websites and viruses. Unfortunately, this kind of problem
might even get worse in the future at least until more regulated systems are
set up.
In
conclusion, developments in IT have brought many benefits, yet I believe
developments relating to new technology in the future are likely to produce
many negative effects that must be addressed if we are to avoid damaging
impacts to individuals and society. 280 words
