In IELTS, the second
writing is an argumentative writing that requires you to write 250 words
discussing certain topic. We already had some discussions regarding IELTS
Writing Task 2 in the previous posts. However, the previous writings focused on
questions that require you to take a stance whether you agree/disagree with the
topic, decide whether something is beneficial or harmful (in other words,
advantageous or disadvantageous), or whether you discuss a topic concerning the
positive and the negative impacts. This is quite doable since you just have to
look for a way to explain your argument by providing evidences, reason, and
examples. Of course, balanced argument is also needed, but you know that
balanced argument is actually used to give an emphasis on your own argument.
The conclusion is, it is always easier to take stance.
Even though, you may also
be asked to discuss a topic without taking stance, like when you have these
questions:
a. Discuss both points and
give your opinion
b. Discuss both sides and
give your opinion
c. Discuss both views and
give your opinion
This kind of questions
will require you to have a discussion instead and you may ask yourself: Is the
writing layout going to be different?
Sometimes, you also have
a direct questions like:
d. There are more and more
people who become self-employed in order to gain more freedom and to be able to
work from home. Why do you think this happens?
Or an essay that requires
you to formulate a solution like:
e. There are more and more
people who suffer from serious illness caused by unhealthy lifestyle. What can
be done to tackle this problem?
Because the essay topic
and the question are a little bit different, we need to do some modification in the
writing layout. In some cases, the modification is not significant, but has to
be done, nevertheless. In some other cases, we need to do a great deal of
changes to the existing layout. Now, let’s use this topic as an example.
One
of many ways to solve congestion on roads is to increase tax on private
vehicles. How could this alleviate congestion?
What
other measures can you suggest to deal with congestion in cities?
If you take a careful
look at the topic, you can draw a conclusion that there is no significant
layout modification needed. The layout will be generally explained like this:
a. Overview, similar as
before
b. Stating basis of argument
c. Giving balanced argument
d. Explaining your own
argument, and
e. Giving conclusion and
solution
Now, let’s talk about the
layout in detail
Overview
In this part, you have to
give a very general explanation regarding the topic. The explanation should
cover explanations related to the 5WH, although not all of them are necessary
used. Take a look at this brainstorming for the overview:
a. What is congestion and
where and when it usually happens?
b. Why does it happen?
From this brainstorming,
we can write several sentences as follows:
One of the biggest
concerns in urban areas is problem related to congestion. It always happens
every day especially during the peak hour when people are going to work and
when they are coming back from work. It usually happens in the major road
although some alternative roads can also be quite crowded, especially during
holiday. The significant growth of vehicles and people moving to urban center
have made it worse. The authority has done several efforts to tackle the
problems ranging from formulating regulation related to traffic, taxation, and
improving the public transport to decrease the number of private vehicles.
Stating
Basis of Argument
In this part, you should
show your stance. Since the topic does not require you to do so, you can
present both arguments as something equal. Both increasing tax and doing other
relevant improvement are necessary. That is the basic idea.
People are now required
to pay higher tax for private vehicles. This is done to control the number of
personally owned vehicle and motivate the citizens to take a walk or to use the
public transportation. I personally think that there are still some methods
that need to be done to thoroughly overcome the issue.
Giving
Balanced Argument
In this part, you need to explain the first opinion regarding methods for reducing congestion. You can use the argument suggested by the topic [increasing tax, so you will explains methods other than tax later] or explain methods other than tax first [and then explain the tax method later]. Take a look at an example below:
One of the best solutions to reduce congestion is by increasing tax. This is done to discourage the people to have personal vehicles. There are so many families having more than one car nowadays, resulting in daily traffic jam as the roads can no longer support the increasing number of vehicles. The government can also limit the ownership of private vehicles by charging higher tax on the ownership of second and third private vehicles so that each family will only have one family car for everyone. Besides controlling the use of private transport, increasing the tax can also help the government build better facilities for the people. The money collected from tax payers can be allocated for extending roads, building bridges, and other facilities that support people’s mobility. This will also be a good means of reducing traffic, since there is a balance between the growing number of people using private vehicles and the facilities that support it.
One of the best solutions to reduce congestion is by increasing tax. This is done to discourage the people to have personal vehicles. There are so many families having more than one car nowadays, resulting in daily traffic jam as the roads can no longer support the increasing number of vehicles. The government can also limit the ownership of private vehicles by charging higher tax on the ownership of second and third private vehicles so that each family will only have one family car for everyone. Besides controlling the use of private transport, increasing the tax can also help the government build better facilities for the people. The money collected from tax payers can be allocated for extending roads, building bridges, and other facilities that support people’s mobility. This will also be a good means of reducing traffic, since there is a balance between the growing number of people using private vehicles and the facilities that support it.
Making
a Contrasting Statement
This statement is used to
connect the balanced argument (tax method) and your own argument (other
improvement) by contrasting them using linking words such as however, despite,
in spite of, regardless, etc. Take a look at an example below:
Despite the fact that increase in the tax is
an effective way to overcome congestion, other methods still have to be done to
tackle problems related to congestion.
Explaining
Your Own Argument
In this part, you will
have to explain your argument focusing on the use of other methods. Firstly,
let’s make the brain storming for your own argument:
a. Improve public transport
b. Encouraging online based transportation
service
c. Encouraging the citizens
to use bicycle to work
After listing those
points, you can add several supporting ideas and make a paragraph:
It is argued that
increasing tax often results in people’s disappointment for its lack of
persuasive nature. Policy related to tax is yet to be effective unless it is
supported by other methods. Firstly, the people certainly need to be motivated
to use public transport and thus, the quality of mass transport also has to be
improved. The quality covers the performance and appearance of the vehicle used
for mass transport, cleanliness, safety and price. Using private transport is not
only a matter of prestige but also a matter of comfort. Providing good public
transport and giving best service for the people are two most effective and
persuasive ways to encourage them to move on from private vehicles. Secondly,
the people also have online transportation as a second option for commuting. Online
transport works based on what’s so called capital sharing, by which those who
have vehicles get income by becoming drivers for those who do not. In this
case, both the owners of the vehicle and the passengers are mutually benefited.
Since online drivers always provide a means of going around, it is expected
that the general population will no longer have the need to own a private
vehicle. Lastly, the people who usually commute in short distance can be motivated
to ride their bicycle. Nowadays, people in urban areas are already fed up with everyday
traffic, that riding bike to work finally becomes a lifestyle. This is also because
some people have become more aware of their health and finally chooses bike as
a choice of keeping their body fit and avoiding stress caused by traffic. This trend
should be supported by the government by providing special track for bikers and
initiating programs like car free days.
Giving
a Conclusion and Solution
In this part, you have to
find a middle way between the balanced argument and your own argument. It is neither
possible to merely use tax for overcoming problems related to congestion, nor only
use other methods without involving the tax. The solution is basically telling
how to create the best combination of the two.
In summary, tax is a good
way of reducing congestion since it can be used to control the increasing
growth of private vehicle ownership. However, it still has to be supported by more
persuasive approaches that directly reduce traffic jam such as motivating people
to use massive transport and bicycle as well as encouraging people to use online
transportation.
After all steps have been
done, the writing will look like this:
One of the biggest
concerns in urban areas is problem related to congestion. It always happens
every day especially during the peak hour when people are going to work and
when they are coming back from work. It usually happens in the major road
although some alternative roads can also be quite crowded, especially during
holiday. The significant growth of vehicles and people moving to urban center
have made it worse. The authority has done several efforts to tackle the
problems ranging from formulating regulation related to traffic, taxation, and
improving the public transport to decrease the number of private vehicles
[overview]. People are now required to pay higher tax for private vehicles.
This is done to control the number of personally owned vehicle and motivate the
citizens to take a walk or to use the public transportation. I personally think
that there are still some methods that need to be done to thoroughly overcome
the issue [stating your basis of argument].
One of the best solutions
to reduce congestion is by increasing tax. This is done to discourage the
people to have personal vehicles. There are so many families having more than
one car nowadays, resulting in daily traffic jam as the roads can no longer
support the increasing number of vehicles. The government can also limit the
ownership of private vehicles by charging higher tax on the ownership of second
and third private vehicles so that each family will only have one family car
for everyone. Besides controlling the use of private transport, increasing the
tax can also help the government build better facilities for the people. The
money collected from tax payers can be allocated for extending roads, building
bridges, and other facilities that support people’s mobility. This will also be
a good means of reducing traffic, since there is a balance between the growing
number of people using private vehicles and the facilities that support it
[giving a balanced argument]. Despite the fact that increase in the tax is an
effective way to overcome congestion, other methods still have to be done to
tackle problems related to congestion [making a contrasting sentence].
It is argued that
increasing tax often results in people’s disappointment for its lack of
persuasive nature. Policy related to tax is yet to be effective unless it is
supported by other methods. Firstly, the people certainly need to be motivated
to use public transport and thus, the quality of mass transport also has to be
improved. The quality covers the performance and appearance of the vehicle used
for mass transport, cleanliness, safety and price. Using private transport is not
only a matter of prestige but also a matter of comfort. Providing good public
transport and giving best service for the people are two most effective and
persuasive ways to encourage them to move on from private vehicles. Secondly,
the people also have online transportation as a second option for commuting. Online
transport works based on what’s so called capital sharing, by which those who
have vehicles get income by becoming drivers for those who do not. In this
case, both the owners of the vehicle and the passengers are mutually benefited.
Since online drivers always provide a means of going around, it is expected
that the general population will no longer have the need to own a private
vehicle. Lastly, the people who usually commute in short distance can be motivated
to ride their bicycle. Nowadays, people in urban areas are already fed up with everyday
traffic, that riding bike to work finally becomes a lifestyle. This is also because
some people have become more aware of their health and finally chooses bike as
a choice of keeping their body fit and avoiding stress caused by traffic. This trend
should be supported by the government by providing special track for bikers and
initiating programs like car free days [explaining your own argument]. In
summary, tax is a good way of reducing congestion since it can be used to control
the increasing growth of private vehicle ownership. However, it still has to be
supported by more persuasive approaches that directly reduce traffic jam such
as motivating people to use massive transport and bicycle as well as encouraging
people to use online transportation [conclusion and solution].
That is the simplest
layout for a [more descriptive] and [less argumentative] writing task 2 in
which you do not have to make a stance. This layout is pretty powerful
regardless its simplicity. But it definitely needs to be revised, modified, and
improved. So make sure you give your best feedback to improve the layout.
à la prochaine
For material on Writing Task 2, click this link below
For previous explanation on Writing Task 2, click this link below
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