Introduction
IELTS Students often believe that Writing is the most difficult section of the IELTS test, especially Task 2. One way for IELTS students to improve their Writing Band Score is to gain a better understanding of the Task 2 Descriptors.
There are four descriptors: Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Response and Grammatical Range and Accuracy.
These descriptors can be categorised in two ways: Process and Response. Process is what goes on in your mind and Response means what ends up on the paper.
See the table below:
| Task Response | Coherence and Cohesion | Lexical Response | Grammatical Range and Accuracy |
| PROCESS | PROCESS | RESPONSE |
RESPONSE
|
Understanding the Process
It is the red section of the above table that students find the most trouble with – and what this lesson will focus on.
The first five minutes of the test is when you do your planning.
Each IELTS Task 2 Question has two parts. When you are planning, carefully read the following:
- a) Topic
- b) Instructions on what kind of essay to write
When you think about 1. a) Topic, you need to think about:
o What I need to write
This is where you focus on TASK RESPONSE
Ask yourself what you think the writer of the question expects you to write about. Think of a key idea that will act as an essay theme. Think about what evidence (examples and reasons) you can use to explore the theme, and write them down.
When you think about 2. b) Instructions on what kind of essay to write, you need to think about:
o How I need to write?
This is where you focus on COHERENCE AND COHESION
There are two basic kinds of essays: opinion (thesis led + argument led) and report (causes and solutions + advantages and disadvantages). You need to decide which type of essay to write and then organise your ideas to suit it. Remember your theme, and to use discourse markers – that will ensure a logical progression of ideas.