AC sample scripts

SampleCandidateWritingScriptsand ExaminerComments BoththeAcademicandGeneralTrainingWriting Modulesconsistoftwotasks,Task1andTask 2.Eachtaskisassessedindependently.The assessmentofTask2carriesmoreweightin markingthanTask1. Detailedperformancedescriptorshavebeen developedwhich describewrittenperformance atthe9IELTSbands.Thesedescriptorsapply toboththeAcademicandGeneralTraining Modules. Task1scriptsareassessedonthefollowing criteria: •Task Achievement •CoherenceandCohesion •LexicalResource •GrammaticalRangeandAccuracy Task2scriptsareassessedonthefollowing criteria: •Task Response •CoherenceandCohesion •LexicalResource •GrammaticalRangeandAccuracy Cand idatesshouldnotethatscriptswillbe penalisediftheyarea)undertheminimumword leng th,b)partlyorwhollyplagiarise d,c)not writtenasfull,connec tedtext(e.g.usingbullet pointsinanypartofthere sponse,ornoteform, isnotappropriate,etc.). Task1 TaskAchievement Thiscriterionassesseshowappropria tely, accuratelyandrelevantlytheresponsefulfil sthe requiremen tssetoutinthetask,usingthe minimumof150words . AcademicWritingTask1isawritingtaskwhich hasadefinedinputand alargelypredictable output.Itisba sicallyaninformationtransfertask whichrelatesnarrowlytothefactualcontentof aninputdiagramandnottospeculated explan ationsthatlieoutsidethegivendata. GeneralTrainingWritingTask1isalsoawriting taskwith alargel ypredictableoutputinthat eachtasksetsoutthecontextandpurposeof theletterandthefunctionsthecandidateshould coverinordertoachievethispurpose. CoherenceandCohesion Thiscriterionisconcernedwiththeoverallclarity andfluencyofthemessage:howtheresponse organisesandlinksinformation,ide asa nd language.Coherencereferstothelinkingof idea sthroughlogicalsequencing.Cohesion referstothevariedandappr opriateuseof cohesivedevices(forexample,logical connectors,pronounsandconjunctions)to assistinmakingtheconceptualandr eferential relationshipsbetweenandwithinsentences clear. Lexica lResource Thiscriterionreferstotherangeofvocabulary thecandidatehasus edandtheaccuracyand appropriacyofthatuseintermsofthespecific task. GrammaticalRangeand Accuracy Thiscriterionreferstotherangeandac curate useofthecandidate’sgramma ticalresourceas manifestedinthecandidate’swritingatsentence level. Task2 TaskResponse InbothAcademicandGeneralTrainingMo dules Task2requiresthecandidatestoformulateand developapositioninrelationto agivenprompt intheformofaquestionorstatement.Ideas shouldbesupportedbyevidence,andexamples maybedrawnfromthecandidates’own experience.Responsesmustbeatleast250 wordsinlength. Writingscriptsaremarkedbytrainedand certificatedIELTSexaminers.Scoresmaybe reportedaswhole bandsorhalfbands. Onthenext12pagesyouwillf indcandidates’ answe rstotwosampleWritingtests.Thereare twoanswersforeachWritingtask.Eachanswer hasbeenawardedabandscoreandis accompaniedbyanexaminercommentonthe candidate’sperformanceforthattask. Theexaminers’guidelinesformarkingthe Writingscriptsareverydetailed.Thereare manydifferentwaysacandidatemay achieveapartic ularbandscore.The candidates’answersthatfollow shouldnot beregardedasdefinitiveexamplesofany particularbandscore. Acad emicWritingSampleTask1A SampleScriptA Ex aminercomment Band5 Thelengthof th eanswerisjustacceptable.Thereisagoodattempttodescribetheoveralltrendsbutthecontentwouldhavebeen greatly improvedifthecandidatehadincludedsomereferencetothefiguresgivenonthegraph.Withoutthese,ther eaderislacking someimportantinformation.Theanswerisquitedifficulttofollow andtherearesomepunctuationerrorsthatcauseconfusion.The structuresarefairlysimpleandeffortstoproducemorecomplexsent encesarenotsuccessful. Acad emicWritingSampleTask1A SampleScriptB Ex aminercomment Band6 The candidate has made a good attempt to describe the graphs looking at global trends and more detailed figures. There is, however, some information missing and the inf ormation is inaccurate in minor areas. The answer flows quite smoothly although  connectivesareoverusedorinappropriate,andsomeofthepointsd onotlinkupwell.Thegrammaticalaccuracyisqui tegoodand thelanguageusedtodescribethetrendsiswellhandled.However,thereareproblemswithexpressionandtheappropriatechoice ofwordsandwhilsttherei sgoodstructuralcontrol,thecomplexityandvariationinthesentencesarelimited. Acad emicWritingSampleTask1B SampleScriptA Ex aminercomment Band6 The answer has an appropriate introduction which the candidate has attemptedto express in his/her own words. There is good coverage of the data and a brief reference tocontrasting trends. The answer can befollowed although itis ratherrepetit ive and cohesivedevices are overused. In order togain a highermarkforcontent, the candidatewouldbe expected toselect the salient featuresofthegraphandcommentprimarilyonthese.Sentencesarelongbutlackcomplexity.Therearesomeerrorsintense,verb formandspellingwhichinterfereslightlywiththeflowoftheanswer. Acad emicWritingSampleTask1B SampleScriptB Ex aminercomment Band7 Theanswerdealswellwithboththeindividualmediatrendsandtheoverallcomparisonofthesetrends.Theopeningcouldbemore fully devel oped with theinclusion ofinformation relatingtothe groups studied andthe period of timeduringwhichthestudy took place. There is a good variety of cohesive devices and the message can be followed quite easily although the expression is sometimes alittle clumsy. Structures are complex and vocabulary is varied butthere are errors in wordforms, tense and voice thoughthesedonotimpedecommunication. Acad emicWritingSampleTask2A SampleScriptA Ex aminercomment Band5 Thean swerisshortatjustover200wordsandthuslosesmarksforcontent.Therearesomerelevantargumentsbutthesearenot very well developed and become unclear in places. The organisation of the answer is evident through the use of fairly simple connectives but there are problems for the reader in that there are many missing words and word order is often incorrect. The structuresarequiteambitiousbutoftenfaultyandvocabularyiskeptquitesimple. Acad emicWritingSampleTask2A SampleScriptB Ex aminercomment Band6 Therearequitealotofideasandwhilesomeofthesearesupportedbetterthanothers,thereisanoverallcoherencetotheanswer. Theintroduction is perhaps slightlylong and moretimecould have beendevoted to answeringthe question. The answeris fairly easy to follow and there is good punctuation. Organisational devices are evident although some areas of the answer become unclear andwouldbenefitfrommoreaccurateuseofconnectives.Therearesomeerrorsinthestructuresbutthereisalsoevidence oftheproductionofcomplexsentenceforms.Grammaticalerrorsinterfereslightlywithcomprehension. Acad emicWritingSampleTask2B SampleScriptA Ex aminercomment Band5 Althoughthescriptcontainssomegoodarguments,thesearepresentedusingpoorstructuresandthe answerisnotverycoherent. Thecandidatehasa clearpointofview butnotallthesup portingargument sarelinkedtogetherwellandsometimesideasareleft unfinished.Thereisquitealotofrelevantvocabularybutthisisnotusedskilfullyandsentencesoftenhavewordsmissingorlapse intodifferentstyles.Theanswerisspoiltbygrammaticalerrorsandpoorexpression. [...]...Academic Writing Sample Task 2B  Sample Script B Examiner comment  Band 7  The answer is well­written and contains some good arguments. It does tend to repeat these arguments but the writer’s point of view  remains clear throughout. The message is easy to follow and ideas are arranged well with good use of cohesive devices. There are  . lResource Thiscriterionreferstotherangeofvocabulary thecandidatehasus edandtheaccuracyand appropriacyofthatuseintermsofthespecific task. GrammaticalRangeand Accuracy Thiscriterionreferstotherangeand ac curate useofthecandidate’sgramma. Achievement •CoherenceandCohesion •LexicalResource •GrammaticalRangeandAccuracy Task2 scripts areassessedonthefollowing criteria: •Task Response •CoherenceandCohesion •LexicalResource •GrammaticalRangeandAccuracy Cand idatesshouldnotethat scripts willbe penalisediftheyarea)undertheminimumword leng. Sample CandidateWriting Scripts and ExaminerComments BoththeAcademicandGeneralTrainingWriting Modulesconsistoftwotasks,Task1andTask 2.Eachtaskisassessedindependently.The assessmentofTask2carriesmoreweightin markingthanTask1. Detailedperformancedescriptorshavebeen developedwhich