CD IELTS Prep
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Task 2 · Discussion (both views) · Globalisation

English as a world language

A discussion essay on global English, where the band 9 answer identifies which languages are actually at risk and from what.

The question

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.

English has become the main language of international business, science and travel. Some people see this as a practical advantage, while others believe it threatens smaller languages and the cultures attached to them. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

A 250-word discursive essay — the half of the paper that carries two thirds of the marks. This prompt is original, written in the standard format for teaching purposes — it is not taken from any past paper.

What separates the three answers

The 6.5 says English is useful but culture matters, the 7.5 explains the mechanism of language loss, and the 9 shows that the danger comes from national languages rather than from English.

The three answers

Band 6.5

265 words (the task asks for at least 250)

The answer works. It addresses the task, the reader follows it, and the meaning survives — but ideas stay general, linking is mechanical, wording repeats, and small errors are visible throughout.

The answer

In the today world, the English language is used everywhere3 for the business, the science and the tourism. Some people say that this is a very useful thing, but other people say that it is dangerous for the small languages and the cultures. This essay will discuss the both views before giving my opinion.

On the one hand, English brings many benefits. If two persons from the different countries meet, they can communicate in English even if they do not know the language of each other. This is very useful for the international business, because the companies can make the contracts easily. In addition, almost all of the scientific researches are published in English, so the scientists from all over the world can read them and share the knowledge. Also, the students who know English can study in the famous universities abroad. They can also find the better job in the international companies, because all of the managers there speak English.

On the other hand, some people worry about the small languages. Every year many languages are disappeared4 because the young generation prefer to learn English instead of the language of their grandparents. When a language dies, the culture also dies2, because the songs, the stories and the traditional knowledge are lost forever. This is a very big loss for the humanity.

In conclusion, English has the many advantages for the communication, but it also has the disadvantages for the small languages. In my opinion, the people should learn English but they should not forget their mother tongue1, because the both of them are important.

What an examiner notices

  1. 1. Task response

    “the people should learn English but they should not forget their mother tongue”

    An uncontroversial recommendation offered as an opinion. The prompt asks the writer to take a position on a conflict, and this sentence declines to identify one.

  2. 2. Task response

    “When a language dies, the culture also dies”

    A large claim stated as a fact and left unexamined. What exactly is lost, and to whom, is the substance the paragraph needs.

  3. 3. Lexical resource

    “In the today world, the English language is used everywhere”

    'The today world' is a formulaic opening that misfires grammatically. Openings of this type add nothing and expose the writer to avoidable error.

  4. 4. Grammatical range and accuracy

    “Every year many languages are disappeared”

    An intransitive verb forced into the passive. A recurrent L2 pattern, obvious to a reader but not damaging to comprehension.

One honest caveat

Band labels here describe what each piece of writing demonstrates against the four published assessment areas, paraphrased in plain language. They are teaching illustrations produced for this site, not official material, and no sample has been marked by a test provider. Real scripts are marked whole; two answers with the same label can still look quite different from each other, and nothing on this page can promise anyone a particular result.

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