UNIT 1
I. INTRODUCTION TO WRITING IELTS TASK 1 (3’)
Number of words: >= 150 words
Time: 20 minutes
Types of charts:
1. Line graph
5. Process diagram
2. Bar chart
6. Map
3. Pie chart
7. Mixed charts
4. Table
II. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA (2’)
1. Task Achievement (TA)
Introduction, overview, data, detail, accuracy
2. Coherence and Cohesion (CC)
The ability to arrange and connect ideas
3. Lexical Resource (LR)
The accurate usage and diversity of vocabulary
4. Grammatical Range and Accuracy (GA)
The accurate usage and diversity of sentence structure
III. ADVOID COMMON MISTAKES
Don’t copy the question for introduction. Use paraphrasing technique.
Don’t forget to separate the paragraphs clearly.
Don’t forget to write a good overview of the information. The overview can be put
straight after the introduction or at the end of the report. (However, putting it straight
after the introduction can be easier for the students and we will follow that format). There
can be 1 to 2 sentences for the overview. Remember not to put any numbers in the
overview. The overview should not be too detailed. You won’t get a high score if you
don’t have a good overview.
Don’t describe items separately. Try to compare the data.
Don’t describe every number (unless there are only a few numbers). Select the key
information and describe or compare it well.
Don’t spend longer than 20 minutes on task 1. Remember that task 2 is worth more
marks.
Don’t put any opinions in writing task 1. Never use I, We, You… Remember to describe
data only.
Don’t use complex tenses ( simple present/past/future tenses are preferred)
Don’t use abbreviation (Don’t, isn’t, can’t…)
IV. PARAPHRASING TECHNIQUES FOR WRITING TASK 1
(INTRODUCTION) (10’)
1. Active – Passive / (Passive – Active)
The bar chart illustrates how much money people pay for different entertainment activities.
The bar chart illustrates the amount of money which is paid for different entertainment
activities/ the amount of money paid for… (reducing adjective clause)
2. Changing word form
The line graph shows the amount of fast food consumed in the UK.
The line graph shows the amount of fast food consumption in the UK.
3. Using synonym
The pie chart shows the percentage of spending on different goods in the UK.
The pie chart illustrates the proportion of expenditure for various products in Britain
NOTE: It will be better if students can combine all techniques to write the introduction.
V. PRACTICE WRITING INTRODUCTION (45’)
1. Structure
The + Type of chart + Verb of Description + Paraphrase of the content
NOTE: Include all information in the question and in the chart (What-Where-When)
2. Verbs of Description
Show/ illustrate/ demonstrate/ compare/present/ give information on…/ provide
information/data on…
NOTE: These verbs are always used with the simple present tense.
3. Practice
a. The graph below gives information about fast food consumption in England from
1970 to 1990.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make
comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Paraphrasing techniques
In the question
The graph = the line graph
Gives information about = illustrates
Fast food consumption = fast food consumed/ used/ eaten
England = Britain = the UK
From … to = between… and = over a period of 20 years = over a 20-year period = over 2
decades
Add more information from the chart
Measurement: the number of grams/ the amount of
Types of food: Hamburger, fish & chips, and pizza
The line graph illustrates the amount of different types of fast food, namely hamburger,
fish & chips and pizza consumed in Britain between 1970 and 1990. (What – Where –
When)
b. The chart shows the percentage of Internet Users in USA, Canada and Mexico from
1999 to 2009.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make
comparisons where relevant.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
Write at least 150 words.
KEY:
The line graph illustrates the percentage of /proportions of / figures for people having access
to the internet in three countries, namely America, Canada and Mexico between 1999 and
2009.
WRITING OVERVIEW OF WRITING TASK 1
I. Why an overview is important?
- An overview is one of the first things an examiner looks for because it shows them
that you can identify the most important information from the graph or chart and
clearly identify overall trends and comparisons.
- If we look at the official marking scheme we can see that the word ‘overview’ is
mentioned three times:
Also, the band descriptors state
Writing that does not have an overview at all gets 5.
Writing that does not have a clear overview also gets a 5.
There’s one minor mistake that makes a major difference and stops the vast
majority of students every week from writing a clear overview.
II. What is an effective overview for Writing Task 1:
- Always try to write two sentences. This forces you to describe two main or
general features of the graph, chart or diagram.
- Don't put any numbers in your overview. Save specific numbers for the
'details' paragraphs.
- If the graph or chart shows a time period (e.g. years), look for the overall
change from the beginning to the end of the period (e.g. from the first year to
the last year).
- Look for overall trends and ignore individual figures that don't fit the trend.
For example, if a graph shows a rising trend overall, you can ignore a specific
year when the figures decreased - save that year for your 'details' paragraphs.
- If no time period is shown, you can't look for trends. Instead, look
for differences and similarities between items.
- Don't look for individual 'highest' or 'lowest' figures such as a 'peak' on a line
graph. Instead, describe the highest and lowest items overall (e.g. which line
on the graph was the highest for the whole or most of the period?).
- Start your overview with a simple phrase that clearly shows the examiner that
this is your summary paragraph e.g. It is clear that... , It is noticeable that... ,
Overall we can see that...
- If there are two different charts, write one overview sentence about each chart.
- If there are more than two charts, they must be connected in some way, so
look for two main features overall.
- If the task is to describe a diagram or map that compares things, you can
mention the main differences and maybe the number of differences and / or
similarities between the two diagrams.
- If the task is to describe a process diagram, you can mention the total number
of stages in the process and say where or how the process begins and ends.
Practice Exercise
Let’s look at an example. For the chart below you should look for the following:
– Which line overall is the highest?
– What line had the highest increase?
– What did the other lines do? (increase a bit, decrease, stay the same)
Answers:
So the ‘big picture’ for the chart below is that the top line (it’s health, but we don’t
care) is overall the highest and it was the one that increased the most.
Most of the other lines increased a little bit (comparing the start and finish) but one
line (the dotted line – ‘other’) pretty much stayed the same overall (again
comparing start and finish).
“Health was the largest area of spending by far and grew significantly
during the period while the others had comparatively small increases,
except for ‘other’ which overall was unchanged.”
Write an overview for the chart below.
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