In the minds of ESL exam candidates, e ssay writing is one of the most daunting tasks they are required to complete, regardless of the level of the exam, the administering body or the ease with which they themselves use the language. The same applies to students who are asked to write an essay by their teachers at school. In the previous sample essays posted on the blog, the main point I stress is the need to become acquainted with this form of writing (as opposed to writing a letter, review or report, for instance), to get a feel of what authorial voice is and how to organize and progressively express the arguments you wish to make in a coherent manner. Unfortunately, the best way to prepare for exam writing or learn how to write good essays for school is to read as many essays from as many sources as possible, then write as
This is the fourth sample report (Task 1) which follows IELTS guidelines for the Writing section of the Academic Module. This task does not refer to a graph or table, but deals with a diagram or map. Candidates in this case need to describe a process. The diagrams in this post refer to the changes the town of Langley underwent by presenting an image of the town in 1910 and a second one in 1950. The sample written is much longer than what a candidate would have time to draft (over 300 words), but the reason for this is to give candidates more words to underline and add to their list of phrases to use in such types of writing tasks. First, make sure to have read my post