In some parts of the world it is increasingly popular to research the history of one’s own family. Why do people want to do this? Is it a positive or negative development?
Sample Response
People nowadays are becoming increasingly keen to learn about their family history. There are some compelling reasons for this, andThere are some compelling reasons for this; and I strongly feel that this is a positive development.
Most people research their family historydo research on their family history to find out whether their ancestors had similar personality traits and to gain a deeper understanding ofto have deeper understanding about their family roots and heritage. Others study their family backgroundfamily history background for less significant reasons, one of which is curiosity. For example, my uncle used to spend a great deal of time and effort tracing my family tree back to the 18th century just out of curiosity. Also, I think that the news media play a major rolenews media have a major part to play in this trend. Many news articlesThere are a lot of news articles and advertisements these days that encourage genealogy and convince people that it is necessary to know about their ancestry.
In my view, this is a good way to teach children about history and how their ancestors lived, which is linked in part to family traditions. And it is even more important for children to carry on such valuable and unique traditions, given that this fast changing world is somehow making youngeryoung generations ignore the spiritual legacy that their ancestors left. On top of that, family history can be a fascinating topic of discussion at family gatheringswhenever there is a family meeting. How my grandparents struggled to raise their offspring during the Vietnam War, for example, has become my father’s favorite subject when all my relatives gather for a traditional holiday feast.
In conclusion, people like to study their family history for a variety of reasons as I have discussed, and personally, I consider this a positive modern trend.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response addresses both questions directly, maintains a clear positive position, and supports its reasons and evaluation with relevant personal examples and consistently controlled language. Its main limitation is that a few claims, particularly the media influence and the value of preserving traditions, are asserted more briefly than the strongest examples. The highest-priority improvement is to develop those causal links more explicitly and evenly.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both parts of the task are fully addressed through a clear position, relevant reasons, and well-supported benefits.
Develop the media-influence and tradition-preservation claims with the same depth as the personal examples.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through focused paragraphs, with cohesive devices and referencing used effectively throughout.
Use slightly subtler transitions between supporting points to make the progression even more seamless.
Lexical Resource
A wide and precise vocabulary is used flexibly, including effective topic-specific language about ancestry, heritage, and legacy.
Polish occasional collocations such as deeper understanding about and family history background for greater naturalness.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is handled accurately, and the few minor lapses do not impede communication.
Refine small article, preposition, and hyphenation choices while preserving the existing structural variety.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
In some parts of the world it is increasingly popular to research the history of one’s own family. Why do people want to do this? Is it a positive or negative development?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.