Large shopping malls are replacing small shops. Do you think it is a positive or negative development?
Sample Response
In recent years, there has been an increasing number of shopping malls being built, leading to the disappearance of small stores. In my opinion, this change brings about both positive and negative impacts, though the impacts are more negative in the long term.
On the one hand, the boom in the number of shopping malls has offered customers a wide range of benefits. First of all, people can now save time shopping thanks to the availability of many types of stores located in the one complex. Shopping malls offer groceries, clothing, and books, along-side food courts and entertainment facilities, all under the one roof. This provides a lot of convenience to people who choose to shop there instead of in separate smaller stores.
Moreover, shopping malls usually offer more discounts and promotions that customers can benefit from, when compared to small stores. Furthermore, smaller stores cannot usually provide customers with the added advantage of large, convenient and safe parking facilities that most shopping malls offer. As a result, more and more people are choosing to shop at large shopping malls, leading to a decrease in the number of people purchasing goods from small shops.
There are, however, a number of benefits to people and communities that shopping in smaller stores can bring. For example, locally-owned, family-run businesses are more likely to provide friendlier and better customer service than larger shopping malls and chain stores. In addition, more locally owned small businesses is better for local economies and communities in the long term, by providing more employment, profits and income to local people.
In conclusion, the proliferation of shopping malls could have positive effects on customers but it is likely to drive small local businesses out of business, and have a negative impact on local economies, with most profits being taken by non-local businesses.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Match plural subject Original: has Suggested revision: have Why it matters: The plural noun phrase requires the plural verb form 'have'.
- 2. Clarify the comparison Original: impacts are more negative Suggested revision: negative effects outweigh the positive ones Why it matters: This phrasing makes the intended comparison between the two kinds of effects more precise.
- 3. Use natural phrasing Original: in the one complex Suggested revision: in a single complex Why it matters: The indefinite expression 'a single complex' is natural when the complex has not been identified.
- 4. Remove unnecessary article Original: under the one roof Suggested revision: under one roof Why it matters: The fixed expression is 'under one roof' without 'the'.
- 5. Improve collocation Original: provides a lot of convenience Suggested revision: offers considerable convenience Why it matters: 'Offers considerable convenience' is a more natural academic collocation.
- 6. Remove misplaced comma Original: benefit from, when compared Suggested revision: benefit from when compared Why it matters: The comma should not separate the comparison clause from the phrase it modifies.
- 7. Fix subject-verb agreement Original: is Suggested revision: are Why it matters: The plural subject 'businesses' requires the plural verb 'are'.
- 8. Use parallel nouns Original: more employment, profits and income Suggested revision: more jobs, profits, and income Why it matters: 'Jobs' is the countable result that fits naturally alongside profits and income.
- 9. Avoid word repetition Original: drive small local businesses out of business Suggested revision: force small local businesses to close Why it matters: This replacement removes the awkward repetition of 'business' while preserving the claim.
- 10. Use precise growth wording Original: boom in the number of shopping malls Suggested revision: rapid growth in the number of shopping malls Why it matters: 'Rapid growth' is more precise and suitably formal for describing the increase.
- 11. Clarify the time phrase Original: save time shopping Suggested revision: save time when shopping Why it matters: Adding 'when' makes the relationship between saving time and the activity explicit.
- 12. Tighten the phrase Original: availability of many types of stores Suggested revision: availability of a wide variety of stores Why it matters: 'A wide variety of stores' expresses the range more naturally and concisely.
Suggested Rewrites
- has have
- impacts are more negative negative effects outweigh the positive ones
- in the one complex in a single complex
- under the one roof under one roof
- provides a lot of convenience offers considerable convenience
- benefit from, when compared benefit from when compared
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response presents a clear, nuanced position and supports it with relevant advantages for shoppers and longer-term disadvantages for local communities. Its main limitation is that the negative case, despite being the stated priority, is less fully developed than the discussion of convenience and price benefits. The highest-priority improvement is to deepen that case with a specific explanation of how displaced small businesses affect employment, competition, and local spending.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The question is fully addressed through a clear, qualified position and relevant discussion of both consumer benefits and community costs.
Develop the longer-term negative effects more fully so they convincingly justify the stated overall judgment.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through well-focused paragraphs, although the two consecutive benefit paragraphs create slight imbalance.
Group related consumer advantages more tightly and give the negative case comparable structural emphasis.
Lexical Resource
A sufficiently broad vocabulary communicates the argument precisely, with only occasional awkward choices and repetition around shops and malls.
Use more varied and natural terms for local retail, consumer convenience, and economic consequences.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A good range of complex sentences is generally accurate, while a few agreement and article errors remain noticeable but non-impeding.
Proofread subject-verb agreement and article choice, especially in constructions involving plural noun phrases.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Large shopping malls are replacing small shops. Do you think it is a positive or negative development?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.