Irina Lutsenko: IELTS, writing, cohesion

Great news! Chevening is open to Russians! 🇬🇧

What is more - this is a dream come true - Chevening Scholars from Russia are exempt from the requirement to return home for two years at the end of their award!

What does it take to apply? A lot of writing, clearly. (Remember - writing is your foot in the door.) More specifically, five essays, 100-500 words each. Child's play, right?

Find out more: https://www.chevening.org/scholarship/russia/

📈 IELTS Writing Task 1: What mistakes do you see first? 📈

Take a look at this paragraph written by a student. This is a body paragraph describing the task in IELTS 9 Test 4. What mistakes do you see first?

📝 "When it comes to the renewable sources, namely nuclear, solar/wind and hydropower, the consumption was equal at the beginning. The trend took place for about 5 years before it changed, with nuclear sources starting to grow, solar/wind sources starting to fall, and hydropower remaining at almost the same level. From 2010 to 2025 all the numbers stayed the same, with nuclear sources being the highest, solar/wind coming second and hydropower being the lowest."

When I showed this paragraph to my students, they immediately pointed out some awkward phrasing like "The trend took place for about 5 years" or "From 2010 to 2025 all the numbers stayed the same." And this phrasing is indeed awkward or even wrong.

But before I see or even care about any of this, I see a different mistake - there is no data in this paragraph at all, not a single piece! This is a major Task Achievement blunder.

Russian teachers (and my students are mostly teachers) are very good at spotting grammar and vocabulary mistakes, but when it comes to TA or CC - less so. But these criteria are as important as, or even more than, grammar and vocabulary. Can't overlook them.

Pop quiz:

Without looking at the band descriptors, can you say the TA descriptor for what band contains the following sentence: "There may be no data to support the description."?

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📈 Three times more. Three times less. 📈

Many people, myself included, think that neither is correct. Nor are: N times higher, larger etc. Or: N times lower, smaller etc. (The latter is an absolute no-no if you ask me.)

I know, I know, you might encounter phrases like this even in reputable news outlets - don't be throwing links at me with articles you've encountered this in. Read this one instead.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/roots-of-unity/the-mathematical-phrase-that-melts-my-brain/

Are you a pedant like me or the author of the article? Or do you say "three times less" without batting an eye? ❓

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🌼 Another great IELTS paragraph 🌼

Irina sharing two great paragraphs written by students in a row? Granted, this is unprecedented. But credit is due, so I am happy to give it.

Topic: "Some people think that a lot of scientific research today is a waste of time and money. To what extent do you agree or disagree?"

🌼 Student's second body paragraph, as is:

"Another reason why spending money and time on research is rarely meaningless is that even unsatisfactory outcomes can be turned to advantage. There are, indeed, studies whose findings are disappointing; this does not mean, however, that investing in them may not pay off. Take, for example, medicines whose inefficacy or adverse effects are revealed in trials. Even though they cannot be put into production right away, the information received in the course of their development is likely to facilitate further scientific progress, or they can be repurposed, as has happened to the popular medicine called Viagra, originally aimed to help patients with angina. All this proves that although effort put into a research project may initially appear futile, it is still possible to reap rewards from it."

By Ekaterina Kuznetsova

This one is great too, isn't it?

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🦋 A great IELTS paragraph 🦋

"This is a great paragraph!" says Irina never rarely. But I do give credit when credit is due.

So, today I want to share a great paragraph written by a student (who wished to remain anonymous).

Topic: "Housing and road problems can be solved by moving big businesses, factories, and their employees from the city to the countryside. To what extent do you agree or disagree?"

🦋 Student's first body paragraph, as is:

"First, the reduction of business and industrial activity in the urban center will inevitably result in the decrease of traffic there as fewer people will flock to that area on a daily basis. Part of the reason for this lies in the fact that employees, relocated to the countryside, will no longer have to commute to the city center, thus not creating congestion and occupying parking space. Even more important is the fact that businesses’ customers as well as delivery trucks supplying necessities to factories will also have a different destination and opt for other routes, leaving roads free. As a result, the traffic load will be more even in both the city and rural areas."

The cherry on top is the paragraph was written in a matter of minutes, in class. It is great, isn't it?

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