SOME DIFFICULTIES IN IELTS WRITING TASK 1 TEST

1. Introduction

The IELTS Academic test is for people applying for higher education or professional
registration in an English speaking environment. It reflects some of the features of
academic language and assesses whether you are ready to begin studying or training.
Compared to IELTS General, which only assesses English proficiency at the general
level, IELTS Academy assesses academic English proficiency, standard writing, how
to use and understand difficult and highly specialized words. This approach is widely
supported by the institutions that recognize IELTS.

There are 2 parts to the Academic Writing IELTS: task 1 and task 2.

Task 1: The paragraph must be at least 150 words long. The test will ask you to write
a report for one of the following: charts (lines, columns, and circles), tables, maps or
methods (processes). Regardless of the type, you must describe the main features and
make relevant comparisons. In particular, it is not necessary for you to include your
own opinion in this report describing this data. The examiner only wants to read a
descriptive report.

Task 2: Write an essay with a minimum length of 250 words. The questions in this
section will cover many areas from education, health, environment, life ... and other
everyday matters that many people are interested in.

Writing Task 1 is one of the challenges and a fear for many students. This task tests
your ability to identify the main features, to compare the data or to describe the
trends. When it comes to writing essays or letters, the scores are not only based on
how well you write but also on the aspects of coherence, range of vocabulary,
grammar, etc. Therefore, before starting to practice IELTS, it is essential to review the
important criteria from the IELTS examiner himself. An important note that you need

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to understand is that the examiner will not give marks based on your opinion, do not
worry about whether the examiner will agree with your opinion. Each section will
have 4 different grading criteria. Each criterion accounts for 25% of the total score of
that section. Grading criteria of writing task 1 are based on 4 factors: Task
achievements, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and
Accuracy.

2. Content
2.1. Task achievements:

Assess the ability to answer correctly, in the right focus with the requirements set out
in the lesson. The answer must be at least 150 words long.

2.1.1. Incorrect Analysis

If you want to get a low task achievement score, the fastest way is to make a mistake
when reporting on the graph, table, or diagram.

Take the following graph as an example.

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Source: Cambridge IELTS 9

Q: Which one of the following sentences is inaccurate?

a. Mobile usage grew over the period shown.
b. There was a rise in the use of national and international fixed lines.
c. Local fixed line usage fluctuated over the period shown.
If you look carefully, you’ll notice that “c” is the inaccurate sentence.
The definition of to fluctuate is “to rise and fall irregularly in number or amount”.
While local fixed line usage did rise and fall, it was not irregular.
Because of this alone, the task achievement score could drop to a 6 as “details may
be irrelevant, inappropriate, or inaccurate.”
2.1.2. Reporting Every Detail
You’ve probably heard of this before. You need to “select and report the main
features.” Not every detail on the graph.
Don’t do this:

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In 1999, 100 million people entered post-graduate programs. In 2000, this number
increased to 110 million. By 2001, this number had again increased to 150 million.
Finally, in 2002, the number of people in post-graduate programs decreased slightly
to 120 million.
You can see in the band descriptions that a task achievement score of 7 will
“highlight the main features”, but that a score of 5 “recounts detail mechanically”
and that there “may be a tendency to focus on detail.”
There’s no highlighting in this example. It’s just repeating the graph like a robot.
This would probably get a 5 for TA, even though the other aspects of the writing are
fine.
2.1.3. Not Enough Comparisons
While it’s not explicitly written in the band descriptors, the Task 1 writing
instructions do say “make comparisons where relevant”. Personally, I see this as part
of highlighting the main information.
Every sentence you’re writing should have a purpose. Sometimes it will be to
highlight new, important information. Other times it will be to add on extra
information by making a comparison.
Make sure you’re linking this extra information to what you’ve already written
about.
Let’s look at these examples:
Example 1 (BAD): 100 thousand men went to university in 2002. 200 thousand
women went to university in 2002.
Example 2 (GOOD): A total of 200 thousand women went to university in 2002,
surpassing the number of men attending in the same year by exactly 100 thousand.
Not only does example 2 have better grammar, vocabulary, and cohesiveness, but it
also makes a relevant comparison. Writing like this will get you at least a band 7
score.
2.2. Cohesion and coherence:

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Assess your coherence in a logical and coherent way. This criterion focuses on the
ability to organize and connect your information, ideas and languages.

2.2.1. Cohesive devices are incorrectly used

One of the greatest difficulties made by IELTS candidates is using cohesive devices
they don’t really know. They include words like “furthermore” and “consequently”,
thinking that the IELTS examiner will like these words. But if they use these words
incorrectly, the examiner will mark them down. This is especially important in IELTS
Writing Task 1, where incorrect use of cohesive devices can be very confusing for
your reader. In other words, if you use cohesive devices incorrectly, you may get no
more than a band 5.

Example:

The first line graph gives information about the number of people visiting Vietnam
and the US. However, the second line graph gives information about the amount of
time they spent at each country.

However → in addition/ and

2.2.2. Limited paragraphing

The structure of the post is unclear and incorrect.

Example: International migration in UK

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Before:

The chart gives information about UK immigration, emigration and net migration
between 1999 and 2008.Both immigration and emigration rates rose over the period
shown, but the figures for immigration were significantly higher. Net migration
peaked in 2004 and 2007.In 1999, over 450,000 people came to live in the UK, while
the number of people who emigrated stood at just under 300,000. The figure for net
migration was around 160,000, and it remained at a similar level until 2003. From
1999 to 2004, the immigration rate rose by nearly 150,000 people, but there was a
much smaller rise in emigration. Net migration peaked at almost 250,000 people in
2004.After 2004, the rate of immigration remained high, but the number of people
emigrating fluctuated. Emigration fell suddenly in 2007, before peaking at about
420,000 people in 2008. As a result, the net migration figure rose to around 240,000
in 2007, but fell back to around 160,000 in 2008.

With task 1 usually consists of 3-4 paragraphs (1 introduction, 1 overview, 1-3 detail)

After:

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The chart gives information about UK immigration, emigration and net migration
between 1999 and 2008.

Both immigration and emigration rates rose over the period shown, but the figures for
immigration were significantly higher. Net migration peaked in 2004 and 2007.

In 1999, over 450,000 people came to live in the UK, while the number of people who
emigrated stood at just under 300,000. The figure for net migration was around
160,000, and it remained at a similar level until 2003. From 1999 to 2004, the
immigration rate rose by nearly 150,000 people, but there was a much smaller rise in
emigration. Net migration peaked at almost 250,000 people in 2004.

After 2004, the rate of immigration remained high, but the number of people
emigrating fluctuated. Emigration fell suddenly in 2007, before peaking at about
420,000 people in 2008. As a result, the net migration figure rose to around 240,000
in 2007, but fell back to around 160,000 in 2008.

2.2.3. Problems with linking words.

One of the grading criteria in IELTS Writing Task 1 in general is Coherence and
Cohesion. And not using linking words will make your posts become discrete,
missing links.

The examiner always checks whether your sentences and ideas are linked. The easiest
way to create links is to use linking words logically. Here is an example for you to
realize the importance of linking words in supporting ideas

Example 1: The proportions of females aged 20-25 and 40 or more giving childbirth
were generally static at about 35% and 10% correspondingly.

Example 2: In contrast, fertility rates of 25-30 and under 20 groups increased

moderately.

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In Task 1, you do not need to put too many concatenated words. The words are
simple, common but still make your writing moves smoothly as: Meanwhile,
However (Used to join two contrasting sentences); Subsequently, Similarly (Used to
concatenate two equivalent sentences), Interestingly, Strikingly, It is interesting
that ..., It is striking that ..., The interesting point is that ..., (Used to indicate
outstanding features)

2.2.4. Repetitive lack of referencing.

The repeated words will make the examiner realize that you do not have enough
vocabulary to write articles, or you are not able to use the word in a flexible and
reasonable way. And in both cases you get a lot of deduction. So avoid this
phenomenon by diversifying your vocabulary and paraphrase and letting your ideas
be clear and coherent.

Besides, repeating the idea is not good at all, even though the idea is very good.
Instead, you should find a reasoning, relevant example to supplement, clarify the idea

For example:

From 1980 to 1990, the number of scientists and technicians in industrialized

countries almost doubled to about 70 per 1000 people. Spending on research and
development also saw rapid growth in these countries, reaching $350 billion in 1990.
By contrast, the number of science workers in developing countries remained below
20 per 1000 people, and research spending fell from about $50 billion to only $25
billion.

The number of → the proportion of/ the figure for

2.3. Grammatical Range & Accuracy:

This criterion considers the ability to use multiple and reasonable grammar points for
its answers
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 2.3.1. Incorrect verb tense

Verb tense has not been determined, during the analysis phase, you have not carefully
read the time of the chart, whether the chart has time changes or not, or the chart only
represents a specific year. The time of the chart is years in the past, or in the future.
Therefore, when writing about changes you can see on a chart or graph you should be
aware of using the correct tense when writing about the information, for example:

 If you are writing about data that is in the past, for example, June 2005, then
you should use the past tense.
 If it has predictions for the future, for example, 2022, you use future tenses.
 It there is no time, you use present simple.
2.3.2. Incorrect word order (adjective noun / verb adverb)

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Example:

In 1980, the percentage of tourists who chose to visit Castle was nearly 25%, which
was significantly higher than the figure for Zoo, at only 10%. Over the following 20
years, the percentage of Castle visitors increased dramatically to reach a peak of about
45% in 1995, followed by a drop considerable to just over 30% in 2010. By contrast,
despite some minor fluctuations around 10 to 15% during the first 20 years, the figure
for Zoo then significantly increased to 20% in the last year.

Drop considerable → considerable drop

2.4. Lexical Resources:

Assess your vocabulary for diversity and how to use it in context.

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 2.4.1. Minimal range of vocabulary for the task.

In the IELTS exam, the writing task 1 requires 150 words. But for people with limited
levels, poor vocabulary, they will not write enough words and do not know how to
paraphrase, they write along the available text in the article mechanically. This will
make the article incoherent, messy, confusing and underrated. In order not to lose
points, you should not write in the form available. Should leave the essay naturally,
sentences are clear, coherent, grammatical correct to create sympathy for the
examiner.

For example:

Question:

The charts below shows the unemployment rate and the number of people leaving
Ireland from 1988 to 2008

Paraphrase:

The chart gives information about the percentage of citizens of Ireland who were
unemployed and the number of emigrants from the country from 1988 to 2008

Here are some simple changes you can make:

 graph = line/bar graph

 chart = line/bar chart
 diagram = figure

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  shows = illustrates = compares
 proportion = percentage
 information = data
 the number of = the proportion of = the figure for
 people in the USA = Americans
 from 1999 to 2009 = between 1999 and 2009 = over a period of 10 years
 how to produce = the process of producing
 in three countries = in the UK, France and Spain

Vocabulary for the General Trend Part:

In general / In common / Generally speaking / Overall / It is obvious / As is

observed / As a general trend / As can be seen / As an overall trend / As is presented /
It can be clearly seen that / At the first glance / It is clear / At the onset / It is clear that
/ A glance at the graphs reveals that...

Example:

1. In general, the employment opportunity has increased till 1970 and has dropped
down afterwards.
2. As is observed, the figures for imprisonment in the five mentioned countries show
no overall pattern of increase or decrease rather shows the considerable
fluctuation from country to country

Vocabulary to Start the Report Body:

1. As is presented in the diagram(s)/ graph(s)/ pie chart(s)/ table...

2. Now, turning to the details...

3. As can be seen in the...

4. According to the...
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5. The table data clearly shows that...

6. As the diagrams suggest...

7. Getting back to the details…

2.4.2. Frequent errors with spelling or word formation.

Spelling is not only important in communication but also extremely important in the
IELTS Writing test. In Writing, you need to show a wide range of vocabulary but
must be absolutely correct.

After you have finished writing, you should try to check your writing! In order not to
waste time checking, you have to write and write daily, so you have a chance to use
vocabulary and remember the correct spelling.

3. Conclusion
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Writing Task 1 is a test to test your ability to analyze trends and interpret those trends
in an increasing / decreasing / changing manner in a professional and effective
manner. Besides, lecturers determine the level of learning and application of students'
knowledge in the learning process expressed through the ideas and evidence cited in
the lesson. However, students encounter difficulties in learning writing task 1. This
assignment was based on the evaluation criteria and then analyzed the difficulties in
each criterion. Finally, some solutions are given to improve the writing score of
writing task 1

REFERENCES

[1] IELTS Writing Task 1 - Band 8.0.

https://www.aland.edu.vn/tin-tuc/bai-mau-ielts-writing-task-1-band-8-
37821.html/
[2] IELTS Writing Compact GRAPH REVIEW (Academic Task 1).
https://www.academia.edu/33407706/IELTS_Writing_Compact_GRAPH_RE
VIEW_Academic_Task_1
[3] Writing Task 1: How to get a 7+ in Task Achievement. https://ielts-
master.com/writing-task-1-how-to-get-a-7-in-task-achievement/

[4] Writing Task 1 Marking Criteria. https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-1-

band-scores/

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