IELTSBlog.

compresents:

HowtogetahigherIELTSscore
bybuildingapositiveimageintheexaminersmind

ThisseriesoflessonswaspreparedbyDonnaMillenespeciallyforthereadersof
IELTSBlog.com.ThelessonsarebrilliantandwilldoamazingthingsforyourIELTS
scoreifyoustudyandimplementthem.

Youwilllearn:

Lesson#1:Howtocreateapositive,psychologicalimpressiononyour
IELTSassessors.

Lesson#2:HowtowriteaTask1reportthatwillimpressyourassessors
(AcademicModule).

Lesson#3:HowtowriteaTask1letterthatwillimpressyourassessors
(GeneralTrainingModule)

Lesson#4:HowtowriteaTask2essaythatwillinfluenceyourassessors
positively(AcademicandGeneral).

Lesson#5:HowtoimproveyourSpeakingtestscoreby
connectingwithyourassessor.

Lesson#6:HowtooptimizeyourperformanceintheListeningandReading
tests.

DonnaMillen,coauthoroftheCentreforEnglishLanguageintheUniversityof
SouthAustraliasIELTSonTrackseriesofbooks(ieltsontrack.com)talksabout
whatmaycreateapositivepsychologicalimpressiononassessorswhomaybe
scoringtheWritingandSpeaking(interview)componentsofyourIELTStest.

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Lesson#4:HowtowriteaTask2essaythatwillinfluence
yourassessorspositively(AcademicandGeneral)

BeforebeginningLesson#4,hereisashortsummaryofwhatwelearnedlastweek.

SummaryofLesson#3.

IntheIELTSWritingTask1GeneralTrainingletteritisimportantto:

readtheletterwritingtaskandthe3requiredpartsoftheletterclearly
makesureyouestablishaclearpurposeforyourletter
writetheletterrealisticallyandingoodfaithasifyouarereallyinthesituation
writeaboutthesameamountofinformationforeachofthethreeparts

Youcancreateagoodimpressionontheassessorby:

usingactualsituationsfromyourownlifeiftheyarerelevantinordertomakethe
letterseemmorereal
usetheappropriatelevelofformality(informal,orformal)consistentlyinyour
letterslanguagetoreflecttherelationshipbetweenletterwriterandletter
receiver.
managethevariationofverbuseasaccuratelyasyoucan
trynottobetoorepetitive;userangeofvocabularytoaddcolourandpersonality
toyourletter
useappropriatebeginningsandendingsforthetypeofletterandthereceiverofit
setoutandspacethepartsofyourletterneatlyandclearlyinparagraphsfor
carefulpresentation

NowletsmoveontoLesson#4.

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CreatingagoodimpressioninyourWRITINGACADEMIC
andGENERALTRAININGWritingtask2

Thesecondtaskinvolveswritingaboutasocialissue.Again,youshouldtrytoseeyourself
inyourprofessionalpersonaasofferingaformalandreasonedviewpointontheissuefor
presentationtoacolleague.Trynottoseeyourselfasjustapersonwhoishavingtotakea
difficulttest.

3Stepswhenplanningyourwriting

1.StudythewordsintheIELTSWritingTask2

ThesameissuesapplytoTask2astoTask1.Youneedtoreadthetaskcarefullyandmake
sureyouknowwhatthetopicisandwhatpreciseaspectofthetopicyouhavetogiveyour
viewon.Thiswillhelpyouranswertoberelevant.

EXAMPLE

ImaginethisisanIELTSTask2question:

Manypeoplekeeppetsinsmallapartments.Towhatextentdoyouconsiderthatthisis
cruel?

Thetopiciskeepingpets.Tostayrelevant,youwouldneedtofocusyourdiscussionof
petson:

typesofpet(Theexpressionpetscoversmanytypesoflivingcreature,soyoushouldnt
overgeneralise)and,
wherethepetsarekept(specificallyinthisessay,insmallapartments)

howcruelthisisandwhy(Youneedtoofferaclear,precisepointofview)

HowcanIdecideonaclearpointofview?

ImaginealinewithItscruel__________atoneend,and________Itsnotcruelattheother
end.
Whereonthelinewouldyoustandtoshowyourpointofviewandwhy?

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2.Decideuponaclearandprecisepointofview

Thiscanbeachievedbyofferingenoughdetailtoexplainwhyyouhavethatopinion.

IntheTask2essay,havingaclearandprecisepointofviewonthetasktopicenables
theassessortofeelmoreconnectedtothestrengthofyourwritingvoice.

EXAMPLE

LetsusethesameTask2exampleaboutkeepingpets:

a)Anunclearandnotveryprecisepointofviewmightbe:
Itissometimescrueltokeeppetsinapartmentsbutsometimesitisnotcruel.

Thispointofviewsoundsasthoughthewriterdoesntclearlyknowwhattheir
pointofviewisaboutcruelty,andsoitislessconvincing,lesspowerful.

b)Aclearandmoreprecisepointofviewmightbe:
Itiscrueltokeeppetsinsmallapartmentsifthepetsarelargeandneedmorespace,
moreattentionoradifferentenvironmentinordertobehappyandhealthy

Thispointofviewgivesamoreprecisepointofviewbecauseitgivestheprecise
conditionsinwhichthewriterthinksitiscruel(thatis,thewritersaysitiscruel,if
petsarelargeandiftheycantbehealthyandhappyinsmallapartments)

Aclearandprecisepointofviewgivesadditionaldirectiontoyouressays
introductionasyouwillbedevelopingthesupportingreasonsforthatpointofview
intheotherparagraphs.Ittellstheassessormore.andsoitgivestheassessora
moredetailedimpressionofyouandofwhattheessaymightcontain.

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3.Makeaquickplanoftheparagraphsyouwillwriteandthetopicof
eachparagraph.

Rememberthatthefirstsentenceineachparagraph(oftencalledthetopic
sentence)tellsthereaderwhattheparagraphisaboutsoifthetopicsentenceis
clear,itgivesapositiveimpressiontotheassessor,becauseitmeansthe
assessorcanpredictthecontentoftheparagraphmoreeasily.Animportant
partofreadingsomeonesessayeasilyisbeingabletopredictwhatwillcomenext.

InyourTask2plan:

showanintroductionwhichcontainsyourviewpointontheessaytasksstated
opinion,

thenlist2or3paragraphheadingseachwithakeyreasonconnectedtoyourown
viewpoint,whichyouwilldiscussineachparagraph,plusoneortwoexamplesto
supportthatreason

andshowaconcludingparagraphthatwillsummarisewhatyouressayhasshown.

IfyouwritetheplanintheIELTSAnswerbook,justputalinethroughitand
underlineittoshowthatitisnotpartofyouractualanswer.Thenbegintheactual
essay.

Remember

WhatwesaidaboutTask1AcademicinLesson2isalsoimportanthere.Afew
minutesspentplanningyourTask2responsewillhelpyoutowritemore
systematicallyandmoresmoothly,andinclearerparagraphs;itisnotwastedtime.

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3tipsfororganisingyourwriting

1.Trytodevelopeachparagraphbydevelopingeachpointthatsupportsthetopic
sentence.(Dontjuststateonepointandthenmoveontoanentirelynewpointasthis
seemsmechanicalandpreventsyoufromdevelopingapointinmoredetail)

2.Trytouseavarietyoflinkingwordsbetweensentences,ratherthanjustthesimpler
shoppingliststylelinkssuchas:firstly,secondly,thirdly,finally

3.Makesureyouleavealinebetweeneachofyourparagraphwhenyouwriteyouressay,
sothattheassessorcanseethewayyouressayisorganised

EXAMPLE

Readthisminiparagraph:

Keepingpetssuchaslargedogsinsmallapartmentscaneasilyleadtounintended
cruelty.Anobviousexampleofthisisthatlimitedspacemakeslargeanimals
frustratedbecausetheycantuseenoughoftheirphysicalenergy.Thismayresultin
possibleaggression.Linkedtothislackofexerciseistheissueofhealth.Adogthathas
insufficientspaceandlacksexercisecaneasilybecomeobesewhich,inturn,may
shortenadogslife.

Thelinkingwordsinboldtypeshowhowwritersdirecttheirthoughtsandexpress
relationshipsbetweenthecontentastheymovefromsentencetosentence.Thisalsohelps
theassessortoconnectwithapointofviewthatisdeveloping,whichbuildsapositive
impressionofsophisticatedthought.Testcandidateswhojustlistonepointafteranother
withoutanydevelopment,andwithoutanysubtlelinkingexpressionsmayseemless
naturalandlessmatureinthemindoftheassessor.

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8rulesforappropriatelanguage

1.Avoidgeneralisationsthataretoosimplistic
(simplisticgeneralisationsseemtoounsubtle,andtoostrong;theydontreflectamature
approachtothetopic)

EXAMPLE

Comparethegeneralisationsbelow,whicharewritteninpairs:

1)Alldogslikepeople.
2)Mostdogsaresociableandseemtoenjoyhumancompanionship,iftheyarelookedafter
withcareandkindness.

1)Itisgoodtohavepetsinanapartmentandtheystoploneliness.
2)Thosewholivealoneinapartments,particularlytheelderly,maybenefitfromasuitable
petwhichisabletooffercompanionshipandagreatersenseofsecurity.

Whichviewpointineachpairislesssimplisticandmoreconsidered?
Theansweris:theSECONDsentenceineachpair.

So,amoreconsideredviewprobablyneedstobeexpressedinasentencethatis:
longer
moregrammaticallycomplex.
moredetailedandthereforemoreprecise
writtenwithcautiouslanguageforms(e.g.may,possibly,perhaps,seem)

2.Avoidusingidiomsorsayingswhicheitherstatetheobviousorseemoutofplaceinan
essaywhereaformalviewpointisbeingsystematicallydeveloped.

Examples: Everycoinhastwosides. Everycloudhasasilverlining.

3.Avoidusingclichs,astheycancommunicatetoomuchinformality.

Example: Withmostpets,whatyouseeiswhatyouget.

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4.Avoidusinginformalexpressionsinthisformaltypeofwriting.

Examples:
Lessformal

Moreformal
Keepingpetsisaveryhottopic

Keepingpetsisasignificantissue
Petroldrivencarsarepasttheirsellbydate arefastbecomingobsolete

5.Avoidusinglazyexpressionstocompletesentences,especiallyonesthatbelong
moretospokenconversation.

Examples: etc;andsoon;andthingslikethat;thatsortofthing

6.Avoidimprecisegeneralexpressionsthatmakeviewssoundtoosimple.

Example:Comparetheseexpressionsina)andb)
a)Walkingadogisagoodthingand
b)Walkingadogisanecessarydailyactivityand.

Whichoneismorepreciseinexplainingwhatthewriterthinksaboutwalkingdogs?
Exampleb)offersmoreprecision(necessary,daily)thanexamplea)(good)

7.Cometosomeconclusionaboutyourpointofviewinaconcludingparagraph

Ithelpstoroundoffyouranswerifyoucanofferashortconclusion,withsentence
beginningslike:

Itcanbeconcludedfromthepointofviewpresentedinthisresponsethat.
Or,moresimply:
Overallthen,thepointofviewdevelopedinthisresponseisthat..
Or,foradifferenttypeofessayquestion,
Tosumup,thesolutiontothisproblemmightbestinvolve.

(Therearemanyotherwaysofstartingaconclusionsorememberthattheseare
justafewsuggestions)

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8.Makeaquickcheckofyourgrammar

Thelastminuteortwowillbewellspentifyoureadyouressayquicklyandtryto
findthoseelementarygrammarmistakeswhichdonotimpressassessors
(Forexample:Petare(shouldbePetsare...)or,Petsis(shouldbePetsare);
Keeppetsinsmallapartmentsissometimecruelty.(shouldbeKeepingpetsin
smallapartmentsissometimescruel)

Tosummarise

TobuildagoodimpressionintheassessorsmindinbothAcademicand
GeneralTrainingWritingtask2:

Beforewriting

readthetaskcarefullyandestablishyourownclearpointofview(tomakesure
yourwritingisrelevant)
planbeforewritingbywritingaclearoverallpointofviewand2or3paragraph
headingseachwithadifferent,mainreasontosupportyourstatedviewpoint
(tomakeyourwritingmorerelevant,organisedandsystematic)

InyourwrittenresponsetoTask2:

developideasinseparateparagraphswhichsupportandlinktoreasonsforthe
mainpointofviewinyourintroduction
buildyourparagraphswithconnectingexpressionsbetweensentencestoshow
howyourviewpointisbeingsupportedanddeveloped;dontjustlistyourpoints.
writeashort,concludingparagraphtoroundoffyourresponse
showmaturityofthought;dontjustmakelistsofseparatepointsorimprecise
oversimplifiedopinions.
writeinaformaltoneandavoidclichs,idioms,andlazyexpressions
avoidovergeneralvocabularyexpressions
searchyouressayattheendforanyelementarygrammarerrors

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HopeyoullcomebackandjoinmeforLesson#5.

WelltakealookathowyoucansinganddancetothemusicoftheSpeakingtest
andhowyoucanbecomeagooddancepartnerwhoimpressestheassessorand
makesagoodcooperativeconnectionasyoubothmovethrougheachsectionofthat
test.

2009DonnaMillenandieltsontrack.com

Thisarticleiscopyrighttoieltsontrack.com,andmaynotbereproduced
orcopiedwithoutthepermissionofieltsontrack.com

ThedesignandlayoutofthisseriesoflessonsarecopyrighttoIELTS
Blog.comandmaynotbereproducedorcopiedwithoutthepermission
ofIELTSBlog.com

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