gmp - ielts writing task 1 overview & line graph

GUIDELINE IELTS WRITING TASK 1

-Global Manpower-

Global Manpower International English IELTS Writing Task 1

7-9 Ly Văn Phưc Street – Tân Đinh Ward – District 1 – HCMC

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GUIDELINE IELTS WRITING TASK 1

I. TASK 1 OVERVIEW

1/ Overview:

- Time allowed: maximum 20 minutes

- Words: at least 150 words

In IELTS writing task 1, you will be given chart writing, on the time allowed, you should

write as quick as possible and provide all information related to the types of chart. Each

type of chart has its own way of analysis and we normally have 6 types: line graph, pie

chart, bar chart, table, diagram and map. Besides, we also have a combined type of chart

that is made from at least 2 kinds of picture illustration.

2/ Structure of writing:

Introduction: what does the chart show? (type of chart, function, object,

time/place)

Overview / summary: what are the most noticeable features? it normally stays

after the introduction

Specific details: try to write 2 paragraphs.

Conclusion (optional)

Note:

a/ Do not simply copy the words used on the graphic material (repetition is not

allowed)

b/ In writing body

Remember to check the tense

Remember to use comparison and contrasting (if any)

Do not repeat information and list all data illustrated.

c/ 'Overview' not conclusion

You don't need to write a conclusion for IELTS writing task 1. You need to write an

"overview" of the information.

Question: But why don't you need to write a conclusion? What's the difference between a

conclusion and an overview?

First, a conclusion is really a final judgement, decision or opinion. This is perfect

for the task 2 essay, but task 1 asks you to write a description without analysis or




opinions. On the other hand, an "overview" is a simple description of the main

points. It is a summary of the information shown in the graph or chart.

Second, a conclusion should be at the end of a piece of writing. An overview or

general summary could go either at the end or near the beginning. it's a good idea

to describe the main features of the graph or chart near the beginning of your

essay.

II. Assessment criteria

1. Task Achievement: How much information can you convey from picture t your

writing?

Being able to follow the instructions properly

Being able to write an accurate and relevant description of the information

Being able to analyze the important trend of the chart only.

2. Coherence and Cohesion: could reader understand your words?

The writing should have clear and easy-to-catch structure (3 parts mentioned

above) and possesses sufficient amount of connective words.

3. Lexical Resources: How flexible are your sentence structures and words?

Be able to use wide and flexible range of vocabulary and structures

Good words spelling

4. Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Do you write in accurate form?

Use appropriate and accurate grammar points and structures




III. LINE GRAPH

1. Definition

Graphical infographic that displays quantitative information or it can

illustrate relationships between two changing quantities (variables) with a line or curve

that connects a series of successive data points.

A grouped line graph compares a trend with on or more other trends, and shows if

its rate of change is increasing, decreasing, fluctuating, or remaining constant.

Note: Line graphs are the most versatile and most extensively used family of graphs.

2. General structures and suggested ideas

a. Opening

Introduction (type of the graph, use of the graph, object of the graph, time/place)

Note: line graph is used to describe trend (one object changes over the time)

Overall trend: objects are divided by groups of trend: upward, downward,

stable…

b. Body

Divide the time into different small phrases and analyze the trend of lines

The writing should comprise of:

The level of beginning point

How objects change

The intersection: equality of two objects

The level of ending point

3. Example and analysis:

a. Example 1:

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/relationship.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/quantity.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/variable.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/data.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/point.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/trend.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/rate-of-change.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/graph.html

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/family.html




Level: 3.5 to 4.5

The line graph let us know the number of international tourists come to Brazil, Egypt,

Malaysia, France and the USA from 1995 to 2010. In 2010, the one had the most people

came is the USA and France at the same number. The smallest amount of visitors is to

Brazil in 2010. Clearly, 1995 is the bad year for tourism because the tourists were

coming more after that. For example: Brazil in 1995: 10 milions tourist, in 2010: 13

milions tourists. The other countries is the same, the number of tourists were rising.

Although there are some ups and downs through the past years, but they are all still

rising.

Overall, I think Malaysia tourism and France and Brazil and Egypt has the potential to

continue rising after 2010.

(129 words)

Remark:

Good points:

The write know what information should be included in writing opening, body

The structure used are in IELTS form: S + V +adv

Improvement:

Insufficient number of words

Inappropriate lead-in (opening - red word): in IELTS writing, the language used

must be formal, we do not use “let us”, instead, it must be

“indicates/shows/illustrates…”

Limited range of structure. You can see in the sample there are mostly simple

sentences (brown): S + V + adv

Basic grammar errors (blue):

+ Verb in plural and singular form

+ Unit of measurement: remember that after a number, the unit of measurement

such as “million/billion/hundred…” will never be in plural form.

+ Tense: always check carefully what tense the writing use from the beginning to

the end.

Good structure but with errors (green): the sentence may raise the score in your

writing but it gets mistake.

Not include significant details of given information: number, trend…

Inappropriate format: remember to separate opening and body by jumping to the

next row and make the beginning letter of the sentence to be in capital.




Level: 5.0 to 6.0

Given is a line graph illustrating the international tourist arrivals in five countries from

1995 to 2010. As travelling is becoming a common interest and a lifestyle, there is no

doubt that the number of foreign visitors in these five countries following with an

increasing trend.

The USA has always been the most favorite tourist destination. It reached the number of

70 millions visitings in 1995 while Brazil together with Egypt stood at the bottom with

only 10 million tourist’s arrivals. France ranked in the second place. Malaysia tourism

was also doing a great job when attracted more and more tourists over the years,

according to the given data. In 2000, Brazil tourist arrival level started to rise. The same

trend happened to Egypt with a slightly different figure. In the last year, 2010 witnessed

a significant feature: France and USA gained an equal figure of international arrivals,

about 90 million, putting France into a competition with USA’s tourism.

In conclusion, tourism in every five countries had a trend of development and there

were dramatic changes in the future with France and USA, which are the most and the

second most popular travelling choice at that time.

(197 words)

Remark

Good points:

The writer know how to write opening:

Academic opening (red): good structure “Given is/are + (name of the

chart) + V-ing (function) + Object + Place/Time”

Presents an overview with information appropriately selected (yellow)

Body: Use a mix of simple and complex sentence: (orange)

Good structure of IELTS writing: Appropriate format with 3 parts: opening, body,

conclusion

Acceptable amount of vocabulary and structure

Sufficient amount of words required (>150 words)

Improvement:

Comparison: the writing quite lack of comparison structure

However, in the writing, there are some mistakes in grammar and language used,

in fact, it is acceptable to get a mistake but you should limit the number of

committing in order not to be reduced the mark: (Blue)

+ Unit of measurement: remember that after a number, the unit of measurement

such as “million/billion/hundred…” will never be in plural form.

+ Language:

Wrong nouns: “visitings” “visits”

Informal language: “do a great job” “to be in great position”




Above 6.5

Given is a line graph showing the overall numbers of tourist arrivals in five countries in

the period between 1995 and 2010. It is evident that there were all upward trend in

tourists number for the five countries, in that, France saw the most significant increasing

level of visits in the last year of the period.

In details, in 1995, over 70 million tourists visited the United States, more than twice as

many as the next most popular destination shown, France. However, between 2005 and

2010, there was a decrease of approximately 1,500,000 in the numbers going to the

United States whereas there was an increase of nearly 20 million tourists visiting France.

The result was that in 2010 the number of tourists arriving in the United States and

France was almost equal at around 90 million each.

Regarding the remaining countries, the number of tourists visiting Malaysia rose steadily

over the whole period but by 2010 the total was still under 50 million. The countries with

the fewest tourist arrivals were Brazil and Egypt. In specific detail, the number of

tourists going there was similar between 1995 and 2000 but after that/then there was a

greater increase in tourists going to Egypt than to Brazil.

(206 words)

Remark

Good points:

Academic opening (red): good structure “Given is/are + (name of the chart) +

V-ing (function) + Object + Place/Time”


Appropriate format with 3 parts: opening, body, conclusion

Use comparison sentence: (orange)

Transitional words: (green) the writing ideas are connected and easy for readers

to follow

The writer knows how to divide the lines into layers to analyze: the two higher

should be come together and the remaining others are in the same group. It is

easier to see the relationship in the figures of two layers and the relationship

among lines in each layer: in this case, the USA and France are in a layer while

Malaysia, Egypt and Brazil are in the second lower figure layer

Improvement:

The writer may use wider range of other uncommon vocabulary and transitional

words to raise the score

It is acceptable to get a mistake but you should limit the number of

committing in order not to be reduced the mark

b/ Example




Level: 3.5 to 4.5

This graph is a line graph provide us information about U.S energy Consumption from

1980 to 2030. From 1980 to 1985, Hydropower, Nuclear, Solar Wind was less used

while Petrol and Gas was the most popular. From 1990 to 2010 there was some

fluctuation in the using rate of every type of energy except Petrol and Oil. From 2010 to

2030 there will have been an dramatic increase in the using rate of every type of energy.

As the world population is booming, people need more energy to survive. Therefore,

each energy type using rate will keep rising. But still, as known from decades ago, Petrol

and Oil still the most used energy and is expected to reach 47 Quadrillion Units in the

year 2030.

In conclusion, energy is crucial to human’s life so the using consumption will never stop

rising. Especailly new types of energy coal or nuclear power.

(150 words)

Remark:

Good points:

The write know what information should be included in writing opening, body

The structure used are in IELTS form: S + V +adv

Improvement:

Inappropriate lead-in (opening - red word): grammar mistake in opening:

“provide” “providing”




Limited range of structure. You can see in the sample there are mostly simple

sentences (brown): S + V + adv

Basic grammar errors (blue):

+ Verb in plural and singular form: was/were

+ Article: a/an

Spelling: remember to check the spelling of the words before finishing to write,

more than 3 misspelling will lead to deduction in ILETS writing task 1 mark. In

this case, we have to change “especailly” “especially”

Not include significant details of given information: lack of figure to illustrate the

trend

Inappropriate format: remember to separate opening and body by jumping to the

next row and make the beginning letter of the sentence to be in capital.

Level: 5.0 to 6.0

Given is the line graph illustrating the US energy consumption by fuel from 1980 to

2030. The figures show an unstable using rate but overall, there is a marked increase in

the US energy consumption.

In the first period, from 1980 to 1985, it is obvious from the given information that in

1980, Petrol and Gas was the most popular type of energy with 35 Quadrillion units

while natural gas, coal and hydro power account for 20,15 and 4 quadrillion units

respectively. On the contrary, nuclear power and solar wind energy were not used at that

time.

The second period witnessed some dramatically changes in energy using rate. Although

it fluctuated for a couple of years, the consumption rate of petro and oil has climbed

steadily since 1985. Changes of natural gas and coal are clear in 2015. As people started

using more coal, the consumption rate jumps. However, natural gas using rate remains

stable from 2015.

Nuclear power were introduced in 1985 since then, the implement of it has spread in a

wide range. As a result, its consumption level has not stop rising ever since. Solar wind

and Hydro power are in the same situation too.

In conclusion, as human technology depends largely on sources of power, US energy

consumption by fuel will be unlikely to drop in the future.

(222 words)

Remark

Good points:

The writer know how to write opening:

Academic opening (red): good structure “Given is/are + (name of the

chart) + V-ing (function) + Object + Place/Time”





Body: Use a mix of simple and complex sentence: (orange)

Good structure of IELTS writing: Appropriate format with 3 parts: opening, body,

conclusion

Acceptable amount of vocabulary and structure

Sufficient amount of words required (>150 words)


to follow

Improvement:

Comparison: the writing quite lack of comparison structure

There are some mistakes in grammar and language used, in fact, it is acceptable to

get a mistake but you should limit the number of committing in order not to be

reduced the mark: (Blue)

+ tobe: “were” “was”

Above 6.5

The graph shows consumption of energy in the U.S. since 1980 with projections through

2030.

The historical trends showed Petrol and Oil as the major sources of fuel, rising from 35

quadrillion (35q) units used in 1980 to 42q in 2012. Despite some fluctuation between

1980 and 1995, there was a steady increase, which is expected to continue, reaching 47q

in 2030.

Consumption of energy from natural gas and coal followed a similar pattern over the

period. From 20q and 15q respectively in 1980, gas showed an initial fall and coal saw a

gradual increase, with the two fuels equal between 1985 and 1990. Consumption has

fluctuated since 1990 but both now provide 24q. Coal consumption is projected to rise to

31q in 2030, whereas after 2014, natural gas is forecast to remain stable at 25q.

In 1980, in the group of renewable source, energy from solar/wind, nuclear, and

hydropower were the least-used, with only 4q. Nuclear has risen by 3q, and solar/wind

by 2. Since 2005, hydropower has fallen back to the 1980 figure. It is expected to remain

approximately constant through 2030, while the others are projected to rise gradually

after 2025.

Overall, fossil fuels are predicted to remain the chief energy source for the US, with a

little bit of hydroelectric, nuclear and a smidgen of renewable sources like wind and

solar.

(215 words)

Good points:

Academic opening (red)




Presents an overview with information appropriately selected (yellow), in this

case, it is not in the position of opening but the conclusion. It is acceptable in

writing task 1 IELTS

Appropriate format with 3 parts: opening, body, conclusion

Use comparison sentence: (orange)


to follow

The writer knows how to divide the lines into layers to analyze: the two higher

should be come together and the remaining others are in the same group. It is

easier to see the relationship in the figures of two layers and the relationship

among lines in each layer:

Layer 1: petrol and oil

Layer 2: gas, coal

Layer 3: nuclear, solar, hydroenergy.

Improvement:

The writer may use wider range of other uncommon vocabulary and transitional

words to raise the score

It is acceptable to get a mistake but you should limit the number of

committing in order not to be reduced the mark

gmp - ielts writing task 1 overview & line graph

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