Some people believe that engaging in an active pastime does more to develop children’s life skills than time spent reading. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
Many today would argue that the best way to support a child’s development of life skillsaid in a child’s life skills development is to take part in active pursuits rather thanactive pursuits, rather than more passive ones such as reading. I am generally in agreement, althoughin agreement though reading has become increasingly important in contemporary society.
Those who argue who disagree with this viewagainst this contention point to the primacy of reading. In the past, a large proportion of the world’s populationlarge proportions of the world’s population were illiterate. Today, children must be able to read in order to interact with the world online. It could be argued that reading, and writing by extension, are the two most important life skills children can learn. Without them, children will feel alienated from mainstream culture and not be able to stay in touch with friends and family, apply for jobs onlineapply online for jobs, and do research on the internet.
However, children develop reading skills organicallyreading skills develop organically for children and there are more critical skills that are often neglected in a technological society. Most people would be familiar with seeingrelate to the experience of watching their grandparents display a wide range of life skills including automotive maintenance, cooking, and sewing. These life skills have a wide range of applicationsdiverse applicability. A person who is skilledadept with their hands will be able to handle a variety of household tasks, repairs, and renovations. Moreover, there are fewerless concrete benefits. These activities are likely to make an individual more creative and physicallycreative, and physically and mentally healthier. Research has shown that more time spent being active, and less time on devices, improves mood, develops lateral thinking ability, and lessens the risk of chronic anxiety disorders.
In conclusion, despite the centrality of reading due to advances in technology, truly valuable life skills require more active participation. Unfortunately, shifts in society related to technology are likely irreversible.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response sustains a clear, nuanced position and develops both reading and active skills through relevant, logically sequenced reasoning. Its main limitation is that a few claims, particularly that reading develops organically and that technological shifts are irreversible, are asserted too broadly, while the final observation adds little to the argument. Qualify those claims and end by directly reinforcing why active participation offers the greater overall benefit.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The question is fully addressed through a clear qualified agreement and well-developed consideration of both reading and active pursuits.
Qualify the broad claims about organic reading development and irreversible technological change to make the reasoning more defensible.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is well organised, with clear paragraph purposes and smoothly managed progression from the counterargument to the writer’s position.
Make the final sentence directly consolidate the comparison instead of introducing a loosely connected observation about social change.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is wide, precise, and flexibly used, with only occasional phrasing that sounds slightly abstract or overstated.
Prefer concrete wording where phrases such as 'diverse applicability' make a straightforward point sound unnecessarily abstract.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is handled accurately, and the few punctuation or coordination lapses do not impede fluency.
Refine punctuation around coordinated items and remove unnecessary commas to achieve more consistently polished control.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people believe that engaging in an active pastime does more to develop children’s life skills than time spent reading. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.