IELTS Academic Writing Task 2 Activity – teacher’s notes

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IELTS Academic Writing Task 2 Activity – teacher’s notes
Description
An activity to introduce Academic Writing task 2, involving task analysis, idea generation, essay planning
and language activation. Students are then asked to write an essay and to analyse two sample scripts.
Time required: 130 minutes (90–100 minutes for procedure 1-12. Follow up text
analysis another 30–40 mins).
Additional
materials
required:
 None – although you might like to prepare OHTs of sample task;
OHTs of Worksheets 1, 2, 3 and 4; photocopies of Worksheet 5 and
the sample scripts.
Aims:  to give students practice in the main steps required to write a task 2
answer
 to analyse the task, generate ideas, consider idea relevance
 to revise language for organising the essay
 to practise writing a timed essay
 to show students how to assess essays critically.
Procedure
1. Show the sample task on an OHT to the class. Hand out worksheet 1 or show it on an OHT and ask
students to work in pairs to discuss their answers to it.
2. Hold a whole class feedback session, clarifying any points as necessary.
3. Ask students how many sides there are to this question. Make sure students realise there are four.
Use an OHT of worksheet 2 or draw four boxes on the board as in worksheet 2 and ask students to
copy them onto a piece of A4, or handout worksheet 2.
4. Ask students to brainstorm in pairs some ideas and examples for each box.
5. Show worksheet 3 on an OHT or handout. Ask the pairs of students to discuss which of these ideas
are relevant for this essay. Remind students that they will be penalised if they include ideas which
are not relevant to the essay question.
6. Re-divide the class so that new groups of four are formed with students who were not working
together previously. Do this by taking four pairs and asking one student from each pair to form a
group. If class numbers do not allow groups of four, use groups of three.

Students now pool their ideas and organise them to form a plan. They should consider which ideas
go together. Perhaps they will need to drop some of the ideas if there are too many, so they will
need to consider which ideas are the most relevant and important.
8. Once the groups have decided on the ideas they will use, ask them to consider which of their ideas
are claims or views and which ones are supporting evidence. They should be sure to have
supporting evidence or examples for each of their claims at this stage.
9. Hand out, or show on an OHT, worksheet 4. As a class, students think of as many expressions as
possible for each box. Remind students that they will be penalised if they don’t clearly organise their
essay, and if they don’t use a variety of these types of expressions.
10. Add to the worksheet as necessary by going through it with the whole class.
11. Students write their essay under timed conditions (30 minutes, plus 5 minutes self- checking at the
end).
12. Students exchange their essays with a partner and check them again before handing them to the
teacher.
Additional information
Make a copy of the assessment criteria available to the students before this lesson.
If time and interest allows, the follow-up activity can be done before they write their own essay i.e. between
steps 10 and 11 in the procedure.
Suggested follow-up activities/questions (and answers)
1. Hand out the two sample scripts plus worksheet 5 either the same day or a following day. Alternatively
use two essays that two of your students have written (ask the student for permission first), plus the
worksheet.
2. Ask the students to read the sample scripts or essays and complete the worksheet as they read.
3. Students discuss their answers in pairs and then as a class.
4. Students apply the same questions to their own essay (if this is done as follow-up).
5. Key to Worksheet 1
1. Is the text in normal print simply advice, or do candidates have to follow it?
These instructions appear on each Academic Writing Question Paper and candidates need to follow them
so that they answer the questions correctly.
2. Are there two sentences that give candidates instructions here?
No. There are four separate instructions in this question:
Spend about 40 minutes on this task
Write about the following topic.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and
experience.
Write at least 250 words.
These instructions will appear with each Writing Task 2 and there may be other specific instructions in the
question itself. Candidates should always make sure to read all of the printed information carefully.
3. Is the writing in bold italics the question candidates have to answer?
Yes. For each Academic Writing Question Paper, the Task 2 question itself is printed in bold italics.
4. Do candidates only have to answer the question ‘To what extent do you agree or disagree’?
No. The three sentences before this contain information which tells the candidates the exact topic that they
need to discuss. They will need to present information which is relevant to the topic, in this particular case,
the advantages and disadvantages associated with nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Any views
expressed will need to be supported using examples or evidence which are specifically relevant to the task
set.
Students need to answer the question ‘To what extent do you agree or disagree’ by giving their opinion,
having evaluated the relevant pros and cons.

source:http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/ielts-academic-writing-task-2-activity.pdf

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1. Is it enough for candidates to give just their own opinion about this topic?
   No. In this case candidates have to say how much they agree or disagree with the use of nuclear
   technology, and for each Writing Task 2 they must be sure to follow the instruction which says ‘Give
   reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience ’.
2. Do candidates have to pretend to be a specialist when they are writing their answer?
   No. Candidates’ answers should be formal and academic but they are not expected to be a specialist and
   should write in a non-specialist way so that their answer can be clearly understood by someone with no
   specialist knowledge of this topic. This is reinforced by the instruction to ‘include any relevant examples
   from your own knowledge or experience ’.