IELTS Writing Task 2 with an Examiner: Planning for WT 2 (IMPORTANT!) скачать в хорошем качестве

IELTS Writing Task 2 with an Examiner: Planning for WT 2 (IMPORTANT!)

Learn with me on Preply! https://preply.com/en/tutor/6184410 The Writing Process for IELTS Task 2 For many students, the writing process for IELTS Task 2 consists of reading the question and then beginning to write the essay. I have had many students react with surprise when I asked, “So, you don’t spend much time planning your essays, right?” The problem is that a lack of planning shows clearly in the ideas chosen, how they are expressed or supported, how they are organised, or all of these. These are exactly the things examiners penalize, so avoiding them is essential to getting a good score. Most students give the same reason: “I only have 40 minutes, and if I don’t start writing immediately, I won’t be able to finish my essay!” There is no gentle way to say this: Wrong! Benefits of planning A properly planned essay is much easier to write. It can also be written more quickly than one that requires planning and writing at the same time. But this is the least of the benefits. Planning allows you to do two important things: think of your ideas, and evaluate those ideas before you start writing. This means that after careful consideration, you may decide that an idea that seemed relevant actually isn’t, or that you don’t know how to explain it clearly with the language you have. Discovering this halfway through your essay is a disaster, but discovering it during planning ensures your essay will be relevant, well structured, and clearly expressed. If you take care of ideas and structure during planning, all of your focus can go into writing clear, accurate sentences. Poorly planned essays often have higher frequencies of grammatical mistakes and inappropriate vocabulary. It’s difficult to write well when you’re trying to think of ideas and how to express them at the same time. The basic IELTS writing process is: Plan, Write, Check Planning is where you decide what to write. Writing is where you focus on expressing ideas clearly and accurately. Checking means identifying the small mistakes you notice and fixing them. This varies from student to student depending on common errors—articles, subject–verb agreement, prepositions, tenses, vocabulary, etc. Let’s look at each stage in detail. Planning You need to spend enough time planning so you know exactly what you are going to write: which ideas you will use, how you will develop them, how many paragraphs, and what goes into each paragraph. This makes writing much faster. Around 10 minutes is a good starting point. First, read the question very carefully—usually several times. Make sure you understand exactly what the topic is and what you are required to do. Ask yourself: How many parts does the question have? Do I need to give an opinion? Discuss advantages and disadvantages? Something else? Next, gather ideas—brainstorm, mind map, or simply think. The method doesn’t matter; the result does. If you struggle, change your method. Then evaluate your ideas. If you have few ideas, think carefully about how to express them. If you have too many, choose the most relevant and easiest to express clearly. If an idea requires vocabulary you don’t know, choose another idea. Many people also think of some topic-specific vocabulary during planning. This does NOT mean using as many long, difficult words as possible. It means picking a few relevant words or collocations that help express ideas clearly. Finally, think about structure. How many paragraphs will you use? Most students use four, but this may vary. Decide what information goes in each paragraph. Writing–focus on language! When you start writing, focus on writing accurate sentences that express your planned ideas clearly. Use grammar structures you know how to use correctly. Do not try to use special “IELTS grammar tricks”—they don’t exist. If you often make mistakes with certain structures, avoid them. For example, if the future perfect continuous always causes mistakes, don’t use it. You don’t need it. Checking Even reducing a few small mistakes can improve your score. Don’t forget this step, especially when practicing! Checking should take a few minutes. Read through your essay and make small corrections to grammar, vocabulary, and clarity. You won’t catch every mistake, but the goal is to correct the ones you can notice. When practicing, spend extra time checking. Think carefully about your grammar issues while you write. Over time, you will make fewer mistakes, and checking will take less time. It’s a process These three stages—planning, writing, checking—should be part of both practice sessions and the real exam. When learning, don’t worry about finishing in 40 minutes. Give yourself enough time to learn the process properly. After you can consistently produce essays at the score you need, practice will slowly reduce the time required. When you can consistently write Task 2 in 40 minutes and Task 1 in 20 minutes, then—and only then—are you ready for the real exam.