TESOL, TEFL and CELTA forum
19 January 2006
Everyone’s biggest problem with Writing Task is finishing both tasks on time. What no one tells you is that if you don’t finish either one, you lost a whole band point. This never has to happen to you!
The key to making sure that you report and essay qualify as finished is that they have a clear Conclusion paragraph. That paragraph can be one sentence long, if necessary. And the best news of all is, you have already written that sentence!
At the end of the Introduction (paragraph 1) of the Writing Task 1 report, you have written a summary of the information. In the same position – at the end of the first paragraph – in Writing Task 2, you have written your Thesis Statement. Simply be repeating both of those sentences at the beginning of a Conclusion paragraph, you have made your writing qualify as finished – even if there is more you wanted to write. And you don’t lose a whole band point needlessly.
Here’s what you do:
1)Make sure you do write a good summary in Writing Task 1 and a good Thesis Statement in Writing Task 2. (Your report and essay won’t work without them anyway.)
2)Watch your watch! No one is going to keep you on track as far as elapsed time is concerned. It’s up to you to monitor your own progress.
3)In Writing Task 1, if 18 minutes have passed and you’re still writing Body Paragraph sentences, finish the sentence you’re writing, quickly. Then, start a new paragraph (and make sure it looks like a new paragraph), and begin it with the words, “In conclusion,…â€