Sample Candidite Writing Scripts and Examiner Comments

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  minor problems with  coherence and at times the expression is clumsy  and ... remains clear throughout. The message is easy to follow and ideas are arranged well with good use of cohesive devices. There are  minor problems with  coherence and at times the expression is clumsy  and imprecise.  There is  a wide  range of structures that  are  well handled with only small problems in the use of vocabulary, mainly in the areas of spelling and word choice . 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. 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. 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