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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1. RATIONALE

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is one of the most
popular English language proficiency tests for higher education and global
migration nowadays. There are four sections in the Ielts test: listening, reading,
writing and speaking. For most candidates, writing is the most challeging and
difficult part, task 2 in particular. In Ielts writing section, Grammatical Range
take a role as one decisive factor of a successful writing in four benchmarks for
IELTS Writing marking schemes as: Task Achievement, Coherence and
Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy.
According to British Council, if a candidate wants to get a 7 band score or
higher, he or she has to uses a wide range of structures, the majority of
sentences are error-free and makes only very occasional errors or
inappropriateness use a variety of complex structures, as well as have good
control of grammar and punctuation. However, the term “a wide range of
structures” is ambiguous. Whether it means that the writer should use a number
of different types of complex sentences or the candidate should use many
complicated structures, which include compound sentences, complex
sentences, and compound-complex sentences.

Many of English learners may encounter a daunting challenge when it comes


to writing is that they have a good command of English grammar and
vocabulary, but they cannot produce a effective and efficient piece of writing.
It seems to be easy to make a correct separate sentence; however, it can be
difficult or confusing to convey many ideas in these IELTS essays with
complex and compound structures as required to get high band scores.
Therefore, a reasearch into the frequency of using types of sentence structures
in different band scores model esssays may provide a good comprehension into
a successful essay from which IELTS learners can apply in writing to get a high
score in writing task.

There have been many types of research on the effects of model essays on
learning writing. The study Exploring the Role of Model Essays in the IELTS
Writing Test: A Feedback Tool by Makoto Abe (2008) obviously shows that
model texts (sample answers) as a source of feedback in second language
writing play a substantial role. Similarly, according to Qi and Lapkin (2001),
model essays can be a useful reference tool for students to improve their essay
writing in both meta-language factors (lexicon, syntax, semantics, discourse)
and language-related factors (structure, organization).

Although the significant usage of IELTS model essays as well as the necessity
to write a variety of complex structures in writing an essay have been
researched, there have been few studies investigating on the syntactic features
of sentences and mentioning specifically about the frequency of using types of
sentences in the IELTS model essays classified into groups of band scores.
Non-native immigrants and oversea students to some countries like Australia,
Canada, England have to get at least 5 to 5.5 Ielts band score and many of
universities commonly require their students to have a Ielts band 5.5 to 7.5
certificate to appply in or graduate while candidates who get band 8 to 9 are
considered as a excellent users of English and can become an Ielts tutor or
teacher. The choice of this study is to explore types of sentences in terms of
structure and the regularity of using them in Ielts writing model essays
classified into three groups: band 5 to 6, band 6.5 to 7.5 and band 8 to 9 by
practical reliable sources of Ielts websites, which contain IELTS model essays
divided correspondingly to band scores ranging from 5 to 9. The study is
entitled “A Study on the sentence types in IELTS Writing Model Essays”.

1.2. AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1.2.1. Aim

The thesis aims to shed light on the density of sentence types in model essays
on three reliable IELTS websites.

1.2.2. Objectives

In order to make the aim achievable, the detailed objectives are set as follows:

- to analyze and describe the sentence types in terms of structure in 300 IELTS
model essays.

- to compare and contrast the distribution of the sentence types used in different
band scores essays.

1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

To achieve the above-mentioned aim and objectives of the thesis, the researcher
attempts to answer the following research questions:

1. How many the sentence types in terms of structure was used in 300 IELTS
model essays and their distribution?

2. What are the similarities and differences of the sentences in the essays of
band 5 to 6, band 6.5 to 7.5 and band 8 to 9?
1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Given the time constraint and the scope of a master’s thesis, only 300 IELTS
model essays according to three ranges of band scores were chosen for the
investigation. In addition, despite the fact that syntax is commonly considered
at three levels as sentences, clauses, and phrases, this study only deals with the
sentence level. Moreover, sentences in syntax are commonly classified in two
ways: by purpose and by structure, the study only focuses on classifying the
sentences in terms of structure.

1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Theoretically, data of the sentence types in terms of structure in these IELTS


essays may serve as a basis for further exploitation. Practically, the study is
believed to benefit not only teachers, learners but also examiners of IELTS.
More specifically, this research lays the foundation of the grammatical features
of sentences in IELTS essays so that IELTS learners and teachers can gain more
insights into how to convey ideas effectively by using a variety of structures
interchangeably. Moreover, IELTS candidates are oriented towards choosing
and fully exploiting the reliable materials for boosting their skills in writing
essays.

1.6. ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

There are five chapters in the thesis and they are arranged in the following
order:

Chapter 1, Introduction, presents the background for the study, including


rationale, aim, and objectives, research questions, the scope of the study, the
significance of the study and the organization of the study.
Chapter 2, Literature review, provides a brief overview of English grammar,
sentence structure, and IELTS essays as well as previous studies related to the
present study.

Chapter 3, Methodology, deals with research methods, data collection, data


analysis, and research procedures.

Chapter 4, Findings and Discussions, presents and discusses the results of the
study.

Chapter 5, Conclusions and Implications, summarizes the key points in


findings, makes conclusions, offers some implications for applying suitable
sentence structures in writing IELTS essays, points out limitations of the study
and puts forward some suggestions for further investigation.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter sheds light on the underlying theoretical background related to the
study. The first part offers a brief look at English grammar and then the
characteristics of the sentence and the clause. The chapter subsequently
elaborates the features of IELTS model essays. Then, the previous relevant
studies are mentioned.

2.1. SYNTACTIC STRUCTURES IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR

2.1.1. English Grammar

Grammar is the rules about how to speak and write in a language. The study of
grammar (the word grammar- Greek: Grammatike- in fact, original meant “the
art of writing”) therefore plays an important role in learning a language. English
grammar is the grammar of the English language. The grammatical units of
English are these: word, phrase, clause and sentence. A sentence is undeniably
the largest independent unit of grammar. In English grammar, the term sentence
structure indicates the arrangement of words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence
(Alexander, 2003; Greenbaum & Nelson, 2002). The grammatical meaning of
a sentence is dependent on this structural organization, which is also called
syntax or syntactic structure (Burton & Roberts, 2016).

In Syntactic Structures, Chomsky wrote "When we speak of grammar as


generating a sentence with a certain structural description, we mean simply that
the grammar assigns this structural description to the sentence."

In the next part, the definitions, the classification, and the structure of the
sentence and the clause are mainly extracted from the theoretical framework of
Manik Joshi (2014) and Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech & Svartvik (1985).

2.1.2. Sentence Structure

2.1.2.1. Definitions of the sentence

There are myriad definitions of a sentence. According to McDougal Littell


(2004, p.36), a sentence is a group of words that conveys a complete thought.
The definition provided by Richards & Schmidt (2002, p.480) indicated a
sentence “the largest unit of grammatical organization within which parts of
speech (e.g. nouns, verbs, adverbs) and grammatical classes (e.g. word,
phrase, clause) are said to function. In English, a sentence normally contains
one independent clause (...) with a finite verb.” However, Verspoor, M. &
Sauter, K (2000, p.34) considered that “A sentence is a group of words that in
writing starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, question mark or
exclamation mark. A grammatically complete sentence expresses at least one
complete whole event or situation with a subject and predicate.” The definition
provided by Verspoor, M. & Sauter, K seems to be the most complete one.

Sentences can be classified in two ways: by purpose and by structure.


Detailed explanations are presented as follows.

2.1.2.2. Types of sentence in terms of purpose

In terms of purpose, sentences are classified into four types, depending on the
aim of making them. They are declarative sentences, imperative sentences,
interrogative sentences or exclamatory sentences.

a. The declarative sentence


Declarative sentence is the most common type of sentence in the English
language. It is commonly used to make a statement. For example,
(2.1) I have to go to work.
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_(linguistics))

b. The imperative sentence


This type of sentence is used for making a command or telling someone to do
something (and if the action is done strongly, the sentence may be considered
as both imperative and exclamatory). For examples,

(2.2) Go to work.

(2.3) Go to work!
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_(linguistics))

c. The interrogative sentence


An interrogative sentence is commonly used to request information, but
sometimes not because it can be used in a rhetorical question. For example,

(2.4) Do I have to go to work?


(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_(linguistics))

d. The exclamatory sentence


This type of sentence is generally a more emphatic form of statement for
expressing emotion. For example,

(2.5) I have to go to work!


(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_(linguistics))

2.1.2.3. Types of sentence in terms of structure

Considering structure, sentences in English are classified into simple sentences


(Ssims), compound sentences (Spounds), complex sentences (Splexs) and
compound-complex sentences (Sp-ps). The type of sentence is based on the
number of clauses as well as the kind of clauses. More detailed investigations
into the four basic kinds of sentences are presented below.
a. The simple sentence

Simple sentence (Ssim) contains one independent clause. It may have a subject
and a verb, as in (2.6); a subject and two or more verbs (called “compound
verb”), as in (2.7); two or more subjects (called “compound subject”) and a verb,
as in (2.8); or even two or more subjects and verbs ( called “compound subject and
compound verb”), as in (2.9).

(2.6) We attended the class.


S V
(Manik Joshi, 2014)

(2.7) He wrote and sang a song.


S V1 V2
(Manik Joshi, 2014)

(2.8) David and Harry won the competition.


S1 S2 V
(Manik Joshi, 2014)

(2.9) Clark and Tom jogged and swam.


S1 S2 V1 V2
(Manik Joshi, 2014)

b. The compound sentence

Compound sentences are sentences consisting of more than one independent


clause (Bram, 1995), joined by a coordinating conjunction (a coordinator), a
semicolon, or a semicolon followed by a transition (a conjunctive adverb).
Some examples are illustrated as follows.

(2.10) We played football, but they watched movies.


(Manik Joshi, 2014)

(2.11) He won the competition; he was not satisfied with his performance.

(Manik Joshi, 2014)

(2.12) He won the competition; however, he was not satisfied with his
performance.

(Manik Joshi, 2014)

 Compound Sentences with Coordinators

In the first way of combination, the structure of a compound sentence is


illustrated as follows:

Independent clause, + coordinator + independent clause

For example:

(2.13) We played football, but they watched movies.


ClIndep1 ClIndep2
(Manik Joshi, 2014)

According to Manik Joshi, coordinators are used to merely connect


independent clauses of equal importance. There are seven coordinators in
English namely for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (the acronym FANBOYS). It is
worth remembering the punctuation rules that there is a comma after the first
ClIndep. More insights into the seven coordinators are illustrated below.

 for: used to express a relationship of “effect-cause”. For example,

He studied grammar, for he wanted to improve his English.

 and: used to express a relationship of “addition”. For example,

He participated in the national games, and she fought the general election.
 nor: used to express a relationship of “negative addition”. For example,

He didn’t read a book, nor did he write a letter.

 but: used to express a relationship of “contrast”. For example,

We played football, but they watched movies.

 or: used to express a relationship of “alternative”. For example,

He will go for a stroll in the park, or he will stay at home.

 yet: used to express a relationship of “contrast”. For example,

I had invited him, yet he didn’t attend the function.

 so: used to express a relationship of “cause-effect”. For example,

He was thirsty, so he drank water.


(Source: Manik Joshi, 2014)
 Compound Sentences with Semicolons

The second way of combination is to connect two independent clauses by


putting a semi-colon (;) between the independent clauses.

Independent clause; independent clause

Here is an example.

(2.14) I can defeat him; he cannot defeat me.


ClIndep1 ClIndep2
(Manik Joshi, 2014)

 Compound Sentences with Conjunctive Adverbs

The third way of combination is to use a conjunctive adverb as in the structure


below:

Independent clause; + conjunctive adverb, + independent clause


For example:

(2.15) He won the competition; however, he was not satisfied with his
ClIndep1 ClIndep2

performance.
(Manik Joshi, 2014)

Functioning as transitional words, conjunctive adverbs are commonly used to


join independent clauses in compound sentences. Adverbs that are used as
conjunctions are called “conjunctive adverbs”. These conjunctive adverbs go
with a semicolon before and a comma after. According to Manik Joshi, some
usages of conjunctive adverbs are listed below.

 also, furthermore, next, similarly, in addition, likewise, besides, moreover,


as well, too: used to express addition of similar ideas.

 consequently, therefore, thus, hence, as a consequence, as a result: used to


express cause-effect.

 however, otherwise, on the other hand, in contrast, nevertheless,


nonetheless, conversely, in comparison, in contrast, on the contrary, even
so: used to express opposition.

 likewise, similarly, still, in the same way: used to express similarity.

 namely, specifically: used to express explanation.

 for example, such as, for instance, in other words: used to add an example.

 then, next, finally, now, first, second, third, meanwhile, afterwards,


previously, subsequently: used to express time.

 in fact: used to express emphasis.

 in conclusion: used to express summary.


c. The complex sentence

A sentence is considered to be a complex sentence if it consists of one


independent clause and one or more dependent clause (Azar, 1999). Bram
(1995) said that the independent clause refers to a clause that can stand alone
as a complete sentence for it has a subject and a finite verb of a sentence. Azar
(1999) stated that a dependent clause must be connected to an independent
clause. The dependent clauses of complex sentences can be in the forms of
noun clauses, adjective clauses, and adverb clauses.

 Complex Sentences with Noun Clauses

Noun clauses are dependent clauses replacing a noun or noun phrase


(Eastwood; 2002). A noun clause is used as a subject, as in (2.16); or an object,
as in (2.17). It may begin with a question word, that, whether, and if.

(2.16) When he will return is uncertain.


noun clause
(2.17) His great fear is that he may not succeed.
noun clause
( Source: http://www.grammarlearner.com/noun-clauses-advanced/)

 Complex Sentences with Adjective Clauses

An adjective clause, or called a relative clause, as Azar (1999) mentioned, is a


dependent clause that modifies or tells more about a noun. It describes,
identifies, or gives further information about a noun. It means that an adjective
clause functions as an adjective. At the beginning of an adjective clause, there
are relative pronouns such as who, whom, which, whose, or that, or relative
adverbs such as where or when. For example,

(2.18) School administration praised the boy who won the first prize.
adjective clause
(Manik Joshi, 2014)
 Complex Sentences with Adverb Clauses

An adverb clause is a dependent clause used as an adverb. It modifies or tells


more about a verb (Farbman, 1985), in the way that they explain where, when,
how, why, to what extent and under what condition an action occurs. An adverb
clause does not have any fixed position; it may come before or after an
independent clause. An adverb clause begins with a subordinator, such as when,
while, because, although, if, so, or that. It is also worth noting that when a
‘dependent clause’ comes first, the clauses should be separated by a comma.
However, when an ‘independent clause’ comes first, there is no need to use a
comma. Some examples are presented below.

(2.19) After he completed his post-graduation, he applied for the job.


ClDep ClIndep
(Manik Joshi, 2014)

(2.20) He applied for the job after he completed his post-graduation.


ClIndep ClDep
(Manik Joshi, 2014)

d. The compound-complex sentence

A compound-complex sentence refers to a sentence with at least two


independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses. Because a dependent
clause cannot stand on its own as a sentence, complex sentences must also have
at least one independent clause. In order to form a compound-complex
sentence, two or more independent clauses combine with one or more
dependent clauses. Here are some examples,

(2.21) I entered the class after the teacher came, but my classmate didn’t join
ClIndep1 ClDep ClIndep2
the class.
(Manik Joshi, 2014)
(2.22) Even though he won the competition, he didn’t organize the party, but
ClDep ClIndep1
his father bought him a laptop.
ClIndep2
(Manik Joshi, 2014)
(2.23) I will go to the market when I finish my work, and he will go to the
ClIndep1 ClDep1 ClIndep2

playground when he completes his duty.


ClDep2
(Manik Joshi, 2014)

2.2. IELTS MODEL ESSAYS

Any compilation of books related to IELTS writing may provide practice tests
and the model answers (model essays) or sample answers (sample essays).
Makoto Abe (2008) clearly distinguishes between model essays and sample
essays. According to him, a model essay is a model text written by a native or
a writer of native-like proficiency while a sample essay means a text composed
by a non-native writer. In this study, IELTS model essays mean essays written
by IELTS examiners and written by IELTS candidates because these essays
play the same role as the writing models with band score 6.5 or higher
contributing to improving writing performance of IELTS essays writers.

Some researchers stated that L2 learners should be encouraged to take


advantage of model essays to improve their writing skills, especially when
considering the relationship between reading and writing. Smagorinsky (1992)
mentioned that model essays are the most helpful tool if second language
writers have a sufficient amount of content knowledge.
L2 learners can also benefit a lot from genre-specific and topic-specific styles
when reading model essays as they can incorporate the acquired knowledge
into their pieces of writing. In Hillocks’s research (1986), he suggested that “In
order to write an essay of a given type, the writer must be familiar with
examples of the type and know the parts of the type and their relationships”.
Moreover, model essays can highlight the key features of the texts, so L2
learners are likely to produce their piece of writing effectively and efficiently
when they have enough knowledge about what they are going to write.

Makoto Abe (2008) found out that model essays led the L2 learners to notice
various aspects of language and of course, the learner definitely improved their
writing skill. Likewise, Bagheri and Zare (2009) concluded that all the learners
and teachers in his study agreed that IELTS model essays played a positive role
in improving the students’ writing proficiency. Their reasons in order of
importance were reported to be as follows.

(1) Model essays gave us new ideas to develop and support our opinions
related to the topics. Model essays bring a different scope to writing.

(2) They present new sophisticated phrases, expressions, and domain

words to learn.

(3) Through model assays, we learned how to organize our essays.

(4) Model essays aided in establishing relationships between and within


our sentences and in supporting our topic sentences through examples, reasons,
and also our own experiences.
(5) With the help of model essays, we were able to pay more attention to
sentence structures, words usage, and precise use of prepositions. Sometimes,
we were even able to solve our grammatical errors.

Despite the advantages of IELTS model essays, according to Collins (2015),


IELTS candidates, however, should not memorize essays or letters or attempt
to fit a pre-existing response around another test question. Reproducing
memorized answers is considered as plagiarism. In order to make full use of
these essays, L2 learners should carefully select the pieces of writing which
satisfy the criteria of a high score IELTS essays in terms of content and format.
Moreover, most of the essays varying between 200 and 300 words in length are
succinct and meet the requirements of the test, so L2 learners should seek the
model essays matching their language demands and avoid ones with
incomprehensible structures.

In conclusion, using IELTS model essays can be considered very useful for
IELTS writing skills. However, to highly benefit from the essays, L2 learners
should make the right choice of the authentic materials so that they can learn
the mechanism that will increase the competence and flexibility in writing. The
models or samples should be considered as standards against which IELTS
writers can measure their own writing, suggested by Sam Mc Carter (2002).

2.3. PREVIOUS STUDIES RELATED TO THE PRESENT STUDY

There are some related studies on the role of IELTS model essays. In The Role
of Using IELTS Model Essays in Improving Learners’ Writing and their
Awareness of Writing Features carried out by Bagheri, M & Zare, M (2009),
the study aimed at investigating the role of using IELTS model essays in
improving Iranian English as a Foreign Language learners’ writing ability. It
further sought to explore these learners’ perceptions as of what aspects of their
writing they noticed to have improved after being exposed to model essays. In
this study, the learners’ attention to writing features was classified into four
language-related fields: lexical resources, form, discourse, and relevance.
There were 65 learners, participating in three groups; group A: intermediate
students with no model essay exposure, group B: intermediate students with
model essay exposure, and group C: advanced students with model essay
exposure. The results revealed that using model essays had a positive effect on
the writing improvement of the learners. The findings indicated that there was
a significant difference in the frequencies of learners’ and all interviewees
expressed their satisfaction with using model essays. Huong (2012) had the
same conclusion in her thesis as the results showed that the learners had to face
many difficulties in learning IELTS writing skills and model texts did bear a
significant impact on the writing improvement of the learners. In addition, all
the interviewees expressed their satisfaction with the use of model texts.

Another related study to be mentioned here is conducted by Tham (2010). Her


descriptive research attempts to explore what aspects of English major students
at Can Tho University notice when consulting model essays. A questionnaire
including 30 factors that could be noticed in model essays was designed to
collect data from 70 students majoring in English language teaching who
experienced two writing courses. These factors are relevant to four main
categories: lexicon, form, discourse, and content. The results revealed that
students noticed all the factors mentioned in the questionnaire but the degree of
noticing on each category was unequal. Students noticed most of the factors in
terms of form while lexical factors received less attention. Minh (2010) named
her study as Designing Exercises on Coherence and Cohesion on the basis of
IELTS Model Essays and Experimenting them in Teaching and Learning IELTS
Writing. This thesis mainly aims at building a system of exercises on the basis
of IELTS model essays that can help students become well aware of coherence
and cohesion and express ideas coherently. The results of this study show that
the exercises on coherence newly built on the basis of IELTS model essays
have much more effect on students’ performance of writing coherently than the
model essays without exercises embedded.

The study conducted by Demirezen (2019) is aimed to explore the ability of


English majors to identify the four basic types of sentences. In the research, 35
English majors with low intermediate background were given a pretest of 20
questions in terms of a multiple-choice test to measure their initial success at
the beginning. After 6 hours of sentence structure recognition studies, they
were given the same pretest to determine their final success on the
discrimination of simple, compound, complex sentences, and compound-
complex sentences from each other. As a conclusion of the research, while the
mean score of the pretest was 23%, the post-test came up to be 56% with the
percentage of ascent being 33%.

2.4. SUMMARY

To sum up, this chapter has provided the theoretical background for the study
on the syntactic structures at the level of sentence and clause. The IELTS model
essays are also shed light on with the definition and their features. This chapter
folds with a brief review of some previous studies related to the present study.
The next chapter, Chapter 4 gives more insight into the analysis of the syntactic
features of sentences and clauses in 24 IELTS model essays.
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

This chapter refers to the procedures used to obtain, analyze and interpret the
acquired data. Then the data collection, data analysis, and research procedures
are also illustrated in this section.

3.1. RESEARCH METHODS

To deal with the suggested aims, many methods were incorporated.

To begin with, the study employed qualitative and quantitative methods. The
qualitative method was used for analyzing and describing the syntactic
characteristics of sentences and clauses in 24 IELTS model essays. The
quantitative method was used for providing the researcher with the result of the
occurrence frequency of sentence and clause types in these model essays.

Moreover, this study also made good use of different approaches for data
analysis such as analytic, synthetic, descriptive and contrastive approaches. To
be more specific, the analytic process was employed to clarify the syntactic
features of sentences and clauses in 24 IELTS model essays. Meanwhile, to
compare and contrast different types of sentences and clauses in these essays,
the contrastive process was used. With a view to emphasizing the main features
of 24 IELTS essays and reaching the final conclusion of the investigated data,
the descriptive method and the synthetic method were fully exploited.

In short, the mentioned methods act as the guiding light in conducting this
study. However, qualitative and quantitative methods are mainly used to deal
with data analysis.
3.2. DATA COLLECTION

There is a wide range of books that provide IELTS pieces of writing for IELTS
learners. However, data from this study were only drawn from the Cambridge
English IELTS Series from 01-13. Figure 3.1 illustrates the covers of four
books in this series.

Figure 3.1. Illustration of the covers of the Cambridge IELTS books

The series of the 13 published Cambridge English IELTS books were destined
for candidates preparing for IELTS. The materials are designed with the aims
to prepare IELTS candidates for the test by familiarising them with the types
of the texts and tasks of IELTS tests, and the level and style of language used
in the tests. The materials can be used for self-study or can be integrated into
an IELTS preparation course. These books are valuable resources for IELTS
study. Each book contains some IELTS practice tests, each comprising sections
of four skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. In addition, there is
also an answer key at the back of the book. Especially when it comes to writing,
there are sample answers and model answers provided for the writing tasks to
guide IELTS candidates. These have been included to give an idea of the type
of writing expected. The sample answers were written by IELTS candidates;
each answer has been given a band score and the candidate’s performance is
described. The model answers were written by IELTS examiners as examples
of very good answers, but they are considered as one of many possible
approaches.

Moreover, we can gain easy access to these materials easily without any
copyright infringement, as the hard paper version and the online version are
always available.

The data of the study were chosen on the foundation that 12 IELTS model
essays of IELTS candidates get the band score 6.5 or higher and 12 IELTS
model essays of IELTS examiners are of various topics and length.

3.3. DATA ANALYSIS

The result of sentences and clauses analysis in 24 IELTS model essays is


presented in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1. Number of sentences and clauses in 24 IELTS model essays

Number
of Sentences Clauses
Writer
IELTS examiners
148 481
n=12
IELTS
candidates 207 545
n=12
Total 355 1026
After calculating the number of sentences and clauses written by both IELTS
examiners and IELTS candidates, the next step is performed. All the sentences
were put into four specific categories which are Ssim, Spound, Splex and Sp-p.
Moreover, the types of clauses in the 24 IELTS model essays were also
classified into categories, namely Clfi, Clnonfi and ClVless. Next, the sentence and
clause types were considered in terms of their frequency of occurrence. A
sample analysis is inserted in Appendix B. Last but not least, it comes to the
compare and contrast steps in which the similarities and differences in terms of
syntactic features of sentences and clauses in the essays of IELTS examiners
and those of IELTS candidates are presented.

3.4. RESEARCH PROCEDURES

To conduct this study, the following steps were carried out as stated below:
- Making a decision on the topic for investigation by carefully reviewing
previous studies;
- Deciding on the source of getting data as the model essays and sample essays
in 13 Cambridge IELTS Academic books;
- Choosing 24 IELTS model essays in which there are 12 essays of IELTS
examiners and 12 essays of IELTS candidates (get IELTS band score 6.5 or
higher), typing and computerizing the texts to prepare for the detailed
examination;
- Analyzing the sentences and clauses of 24 IELTS model essays in terms of
structure then putting them into categories;
- Calculating the frequency of occurrence of the sentence and clause types in
24 IELTS model essays;
- Showing and discussing the results of finding in line with the illustrations of
the data;
- Making conclusions and presenting some implications for using IELTS model
essays to improve writing skills for both teachers and students;
- Putting forward some suggestions for further research.

3.5. SUMMARY

This chapter has provided a brief description of the data collection process, data
analysis and research procedures employed in the study. The results of the study
are reported in the next chapter, Chapter 4

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