Some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at primary school rather than secondary school. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
Sample Response
Traditionally, children have begun studying foreign languages at secondary school, but some educationalists recommend introducing them earlierintroducing them earlier is recommended by some educationalists. This policy has been adopted by some educational authorities or individual schools, with both positive and negative outcomes.
The obvious argument in its favour is that young children pick up languages much more easily than teenagers. Their brains are still programmed to acquire their mother tongue, which facilitates learning another language, and unlike adolescents, they are not inhibited by self-consciousness.
The greater flexibility of the primary timetable allows for more frequent, shorter sessions and for a play-centred approach, thus maintaining learners’ enthusiasm and supporting their progressmaintaining learners’ enthusiasm and progress. Their command of the language in later life will benefit from this early exposure while learning other languages subsequently will be easier for them. They may also gain a better understanding of other cultures.
There are, however, some disadvantages. Primary schoolschools teachers are generalists, and may not have the necessary skillsskill themselves. If specialists have to be brought in to deliver these sessions, this scheduling flexibilitythe flexibility referred to above is diminished. If primary language teaching is not standardised, secondary schools could be faced with a wide range of proficiency levelsa great variety of levels in different languages among their incoming pupilswithin their intake, resulting in a classroom experience that undermines the earlier gainswhich undoes the earlier gains. There is no advantage if enthusiastic primary pupils become demotivated as soon as they change schools. However, these issues can be addressed strategically within the policy adopted.
Anything which encourages language learning benefits society culturally and economically, and early exposure to language learning contributes to these cultural and economic benefitscontributes to this. Young children’s innate abilities should be harnessed to make these benefits easier to realisemake these benefits more achievable.
Why this response received Band 8.5
The response develops a persuasive comparison through well-selected advantages and realistically manageable disadvantages, with highly controlled organization and language. The main limitation is that its final judgement remains somewhat implicit: the reader must infer that the advantages outweigh the drawbacks from the claim that the problems can be addressed. The highest-priority improvement is to state that comparative conclusion explicitly and tie it to the strongest evidence already presented.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response examines both sides in depth and makes the superiority of the advantages reasonably clear, though the final comparative judgement is implicit rather than direct.
State explicitly in the introduction and conclusion that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, then briefly identify the decisive reason.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is sequenced with exceptional clarity, and cohesive links guide the reader naturally through advantages, drawbacks, and their possible resolution.
Strengthen the final paragraph by explicitly linking its judgement back to the preceding concession about implementation problems.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is wide, precise, and natural, with flexible expressions that convey educational processes and policy consequences accurately.
Correct the isolated noun-modifier slip in primary school teachers and continue favouring this level of precise, unforced wording.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a broad range of complex structures with very high accuracy, and the few minor slips do not impede communication.
Polish the isolated noun-form and punctuation details so the otherwise sophisticated grammatical control is consistently clean.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some experts believe that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at primary school rather than secondary school. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.