Hi, I hope you enjoyed writing about the ‘skills and abilities’ of humans (presenting one argument). Remember to write down the new language that you learn and make sure you use it in an essay to practice it. I will try to teach you language like this, in ‘groups of meaning’ including collocations and vital language.
It’s useful assessing your opinions and ideas on a range of topics. And we will look at some today!
We looked at some language you could use to present one side of an argument:
The main/principal argument for/against … is (that) …
One of the main/ principal arguments {or/ against … is (that) …
The first point to be considered/made is (that) …
There is no doubt that …
It seems clear that ……..
It is obvious that ……
You can introduce further arguments with expressions such as secondly, thirdly and finally, and connecting words that express additional information such as: furthermore, … and as well as …
In addition, to support your points, you can use:
1 verbs such as : show, demonstrate, exemplify, argue, and maintain
This is shown/ exemplified by/in …
As ………. has argued/ maintained …
2 the nouns: example and case
An example of this is …
For example, …
A case in point is …
3 the nouns: statistics, research, and studies.
Statistics indicate that …
Research demonstrates that …
Studies have shown that …
And now try writing opinions for the following topics, using the language we’ve looked at. Don’t worry about paragraphing just yet:
- All blood sports should be banned.
2. Traditional music of a country is important and should be preserved.
3. Education is not a luxury, but a basic human right and as such should be free.
4. Some people think old buildings should be knocked down and replaced by news ones.
5. Continual assessment should replace formal examinations.
6. Advertising is unethical and unacceptable in today’s society.
Try to brainstorm both sides of the argument as you should always acknowledge the other side. We will take on these topics and write an answer to it in the following blog.
ALISTAIR BROWN: As a writing and speaking examiner for more than 10 years, I bring a lot of experience. I have seen the frustrations that students have with IELTS from a career where I have actively guided and corrected students’ studies. I am looking for the most effective ways to teach IELTS as I understand students’ needs.