Television has had a significant influence on the culture of many societies. To what extent would you say that television has positively or negatively affected the cultural development of your society?
Sample Response
It has been around forty years since television was first introduced into Australian households and people today still have mixed views on whether it has a positive or a negative influence on societyinfluence on the society.
Many people believe that television damages culture. It promotes the stronger cultures of placescountries such as Britain and North America and weakens the cultures of less wealthy countries. This is because wealthier, more influential countriesthe stronger, wealthier countries are able to promoteassert their own culture by producing more programs that are broadcast worldwideprograms that are shown widely around the world. These programs then influence people, particularly young people, in the countries where they are shown.
Also, because television networks need to attract large audiences to ensure their financial viabilitysecure their financial survival, they must produce programs which are interesting to a broad range of people. In Australia, this rangeIn Australia this range is very broad because we are a multicultural society and people of all ages like to watch television. To interest all these different people, most television programs are shortshort in length, full of action and excitement, do not require much intelligence or knowledge to understand, and follow universal themes common to all cultures, such as love and crime. Television programs that focus on or develop themesprograms which concentrate on or develop themes pertinent to one particular culture are not so successful because they interest a smaller audience.
Nevertheless, we must acknowledgeNevertheless we much acknowledge that television does have some positive effects on the cultures within a society as well. People who do not live within their own culture can, in a limited way, access it through a multicultural television channelthe multicultural station on the television. For example, Aboriginal children who have grown up in white families, or migrants and international students living in Australia, can watch programs from their own culture on the television.
In conclusion, I hold the view that television promotes and strengthens those cultures that are wealthy and influential while it weakens the cultures that are already less influentialcultures that are already in a weakened position.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response presents a clear, well-supported judgement and develops a persuasive explanation of how television favours dominant cultures, while also acknowledging a relevant benefit for minority communities. Its main limitation is occasional awkward or erroneous wording, which slightly reduces polish. The highest-priority improvement is to proofread carefully for small word-choice and grammatical slips while preserving the focused development and balanced qualification.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response directly evaluates television’s cultural impact in Australia, sustains a clear predominantly negative position, and supports it with developed relevant ideas.
Strengthen the positive qualification slightly by explaining more fully how access to cultural programming affects cultural development.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is organised into a clear progression, with well-controlled paragraphing and cohesive links that rarely draw attention to themselves.
Make the transition from the broad negative effects to the Australian multicultural example even more explicitly comparative.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied, precise, and appropriately formal, with strong control of terms related to cultural influence and broadcasting.
Replace occasional awkward repetition such as repeated references to television and weakened cultures with more economical phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a wide variety of complex structures accurately, while a few minor slips such as much acknowledge prevent fully consistent control.
Proofread for isolated word-form errors, article choices, and missing punctuation after introductory linking expressions.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Television has had a significant influence on the culture of many societies. To what extent would you say that television has positively or negatively affected the cultural development of your society?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.