Tutors 21 | - Freelance Writer
Apr 07, 2018 | #1
During one of the IELTS review classes that I conducted, I decided to allow the students to write the Task 1 essay in any way they saw fit. My reason for doing this was that the class was bragging about having done a tremendous amount of self-studying and internet-based essay writing review. That led me to wonder, do the students really learn the proper way to write these essays on their own, based solely on internet examples? I wasn't surprised by the results I received, none of them knew how to write a Task 1 essay. Not without an example to mimic their work after.
What could the students have done so badly that their inaccurate writing gave away their lack of familiarity with the various IELTS essay types? There were several students in the class who wrote concluding statements for their Task 1 analysis test. Which, as any IELTS tutor knows, is not done because the essay is not an opinion essay. Yet, these students were insisting that they did right because they saw it on the internet. I told them what they saw was the equivalent of fake news in an IELTS test. Then I proceed to explain why they were mistaken in their belief.
I started off by showing them the illustration connected with the task. I pointed out all of the required information that they needed to present in the essay. I reminded them that they only had to explain the data and make comparisons when required in the presentation to write an accurate report analysis for the essay.
The information is already there. There is no need to analyze and conclude because it was not the task of the Task 1 essay to offer an opinion. Instead, it was required to present an analysis and explanation of previously presented information. The job of the essay is to inform, not opinionate.
Needless to say, the smarty pants students tried to argue it out with me. So I decided to spend the rest of the class time having them write variations of the Task 1 essay. Eventually, the same students came up to me and asked, "How do I conclude this?" When the essay information so obviously did not need it and there were no references in the illustration that could have helped to create a concluding statement. My response was simple, "You don't. Do you understand now why the conclusion isn't necessary?" I explained to them that the equivalent of the conclusion in the Task 1 essay is the trending statement and that, is placed at the end of the opening paragraph because it is part of the summarized information presentation that is required in the Task 1 essay presentation.
The moral of the story? Self-study works only if you still refer to a higher authority on the subject matter for a final explanation and confirmation of previous information. Be willing to admit you are wrong and that, just like everything else on the internet, mistakes in online lessons abound just as much as Fake News does. So always take the word of the instructor over the word of a generic internet IELTS website.
What could the students have done so badly that their inaccurate writing gave away their lack of familiarity with the various IELTS essay types? There were several students in the class who wrote concluding statements for their Task 1 analysis test. Which, as any IELTS tutor knows, is not done because the essay is not an opinion essay. Yet, these students were insisting that they did right because they saw it on the internet. I told them what they saw was the equivalent of fake news in an IELTS test. Then I proceed to explain why they were mistaken in their belief.I started off by showing them the illustration connected with the task. I pointed out all of the required information that they needed to present in the essay. I reminded them that they only had to explain the data and make comparisons when required in the presentation to write an accurate report analysis for the essay.
The information is already there. There is no need to analyze and conclude because it was not the task of the Task 1 essay to offer an opinion. Instead, it was required to present an analysis and explanation of previously presented information. The job of the essay is to inform, not opinionate.
Needless to say, the smarty pants students tried to argue it out with me. So I decided to spend the rest of the class time having them write variations of the Task 1 essay. Eventually, the same students came up to me and asked, "How do I conclude this?" When the essay information so obviously did not need it and there were no references in the illustration that could have helped to create a concluding statement. My response was simple, "You don't. Do you understand now why the conclusion isn't necessary?" I explained to them that the equivalent of the conclusion in the Task 1 essay is the trending statement and that, is placed at the end of the opening paragraph because it is part of the summarized information presentation that is required in the Task 1 essay presentation.
The moral of the story? Self-study works only if you still refer to a higher authority on the subject matter for a final explanation and confirmation of previous information. Be willing to admit you are wrong and that, just like everything else on the internet, mistakes in online lessons abound just as much as Fake News does. So always take the word of the instructor over the word of a generic internet IELTS website.