IELTS teachers are always saying to their students that they should use high level grammar to improve their IELTS band score.
So, what do these teachers mean by 'high level grammar'?
There is an IELTS writing sample answer (Part 2) below to illustrate what I mean, but first…. There is an assumption that all "easy" grammar that should be covered at beginner, pre-intermediate and intermediate levels should be known and understood.
The more difficult grammar issues listed below are considered upper intermediate or advanced items that (if included in your writing correctly) will show the IELTS examiner that you have expert control with English and will therefore increase your overall band score.
IELTS writing High Level Grammar
IELTS writing Part 2: Sample Question
Some people say that the current obsession with technology and the internet means that we are creating a generation of people that have poor social skills. How far do you agree with this statement?
Vocabulary
First we need to have lots of appropriate and advanced technology-related vocabulary to use in the essay answer.
Technology Vocabulary
state of the art, cutting edge, mobile, application, glitch, device, console, tablet, smart phone, revolutionary, hackers, database, digital, upload, download, internet, voice recognition, artificial intelligence, memory card, obsolete technology, chatroom, texting
Work Vocabulary
career, post, position, profession, interview, apply for a job, securing a job, successful at interview, workplace, industry If you need help broadening your vocabulary, apart from using your English textbook, teacher and extra-reading on the subject, this online tool VISUWORDS is great for finding out theme-related vocab. Try it out!
IELTS writing Sample Answer
QUESTION: Some people say that the current obsession with technology and the internet means that we are creating a generation of young people that have poor social skills. How far do you agree with this statement?
Obviously there are myriad pros and cons to the ever-increasing dependence on technology in modern day life. Judging from the way that teenagers are so comfortable with using new devices such as tablet computers and smartphones, it seems that young people will only become even more accustomed to any future computer-based technology. In my opinion, behaviour that is focussed on an individual staring at a screen for extremely long periods will eventually harm the ability for someone to socialize effectively.
Being successful in a job interview requires confident social skills, such as an assertive handshake and maintaining eye contact. If a generation of video game players are not even able to carry out these interview basics, then they will become unemployable. This point was backed up by the CEO of leading supermarket, Tesco, who recently complained that UK teenagers, generally speaking, leave school without adequate personal skills to succeed in the workplace. He claimed that not only do they have need of improved social manners, but also that they require much more self-motivation. He believed that a strong, hard-work ethic was missing due to young people’s video game addiction.
I would tend to agree with Tesco’s CEO. If smartphones, games consoles and tablet devices had not been invented, then the current teenage generation, wouldn’t have had such interesting distractions and would be more imaginative, proactive and self-motivated. Therefore, they would have had significantly more practice in real-life human interaction and developed social skills that would stand them in good stead in their chosen careers.
In conclusion, I would say that even though practically every industry will be dominated by computer usage and being au fait with all types of software will be obligatory, candidates with strong interpersonal skills will still find themselves in an advantageous position in the job market.
IELTS Writing Sample Answer (colour coded)
Now you can see the answer with the high level grammar and appropriate vocabulary highlighted in colour to see how often they appear.
QUESTION: Some people say that the current obsession with technology and the internet means that we are creating a generation of young people that have poor social skills. How far do you agree with this statement?
Obviously, there are myriad pros and cons to the ever-increasing dependence on technology in modern day life. Judging from the way that teenagers are so comfortable with using new devices such as tablet computers and smartphones, it seems that young people will only become even more accustomed to any future computer-based technology. In my opinion, behaviour that is focussed on an individual staring at a screen for extremely long periods will eventually harm the ability for someone to socialize effectively.
Being successful in a job interview requires confident social skills, such as an assertive handshake and maintaining eye contact. If a generation of video game players are not even able to carry out these interview basics, then they will become unemployable. This point was backed up by the CEO of leading supermarket, Tesco, who recently complained that UK teenagers, generally speaking, leave school without adequate personal skills to succeed in the workplace. He claimed that not only do they have need of improved social manners, but also that they require much more self-motivation. He believed that a strong, hard-work ethic was missing due to young people’s video game addiction. I would tend to agree with Tesco’s CEO.
If smartphones, games consoles and tablet devices had not been invented, then the current teenage generation, wouldn’t have had such interesting distractions and would be more imaginative, proactive and self-motivated. Therefore, they would have had significantly more practice in real-life human interaction and developed social skills that would stand them in good stead in their chosen careers.
In conclusion, I would say that even though practically every industry will be dominated by computer usage and being au fait with all types of software will be obligatory, candidates with strong interpersonal skills will still find themselves in an advantageous position in the job market.
