IELTS WRITING TASK 2: IS READING BETTER THAN WATCHING TV?

It has been said that people who read for pleasure have more developed imaginations and language skills than people who prefer to watch TV.
Do you agree or disagree?

Write at least 250 words and include any relevant example.

MY ESSAY:

It has been argued that reading for pleasure can increase people's imagination as well as language skills more than watching TV. I personally disagree with this point of view and support the opposite side when watching TV could be better in this case.

To commence with, watching TV is a better way of boosting one's imagination than reading for pleasure. When watching TV, we could observe numerous vivid animated pictures, which helps us explore more of the world around human life. Meanwhile, reading could not provide us with a wide range of pictures and especially no lively sound. For instance, some experts have stated that children should be encouraged to watch programs on the animal world or colorful cartoons in order to stimulate their sense of imagination.

In addition, while it is acceptable that reading can be beneficial to improving language skills, I am convinced that watching TV could bring more advantages. Nowadays, the more learning foreign languages become everyone's need, the more active people become in finding the best methods to learn these language skills and most of them opt for learning through programs on TV. People tend to be more attracted to lectures about foreign languages on TV than lessons or funny stories in books. For example, one can develop listening and speaking skills through music programs or hilarious conversations on TV.

In conclusion, while both reading for pleasure and watching TV can be advantageous to improving the sense of imagination and language skills, I firmly believe that we ought to watch TV more often so as to gain more developed imagination as well as linguistic abilities.

(266 words)

The writer has not correctly represented the idea for discussion. A topic was presented as a discussion point, not an argument point. There is no debate present since an opposing opinion was not presented. Rather the student is being asked to present an opinion based on the idea presentation. So there is a slight misrepresentation of the original topic presentation. When it comes to the writer's opinion, a correct format for the response was used, but it was still missing in terms of completeness as there is no summarized reason backing up the personal opinion. The summarized reasons would have solidly laid the foundation for the following discussion paragraphs and also, helped to increase the clarity of the writer, thus adding to his coherence and cohesiveness score for that paragraph. Had these information been properly included, the writer would have been off to a high preliminary score consideration.

While the reasoning for imagination is well developed and believable, the part about language skills development is incorrect or not well developed. The reference to learning languages was good. However, the fact that closed captioning, the main reason why television is more effective in teaching languages, than merely reading translations. A more convincing explanation could have been developed.

The writer should have also used some personal reference points or examples in the presentation since this is a personal opinion based essay. The examples and discussion points are given extra scoring consideration when the writer can connect his personal experience and knowledge in the discussion paragraphs. Yes, first person pronoun usage is encouraged in these prompt types.

While the discussion development is uneven in this presentation, it does not erase the fact that there are lesser mistakes made in terms of scoring considerations this time around. The explanation is also developed in a good manner, but, like I said, could have been been better presented later on. I believe the exam taker stands the chance of getting an average passing score eith this opinion paper.