15. IELTS Task 2 : "Writing a 3-part body topic sentence"

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All body paragraphs will need to have a very clear topic sentence in the sentence initial (S1) position. The purpose of the topic sentence in an IELTS task 2 body paragraph is to introduce the topic, link the paragraph forwards or backwards to another paragraph, and to give the author’s belief or stated position in relation to the topic.

So we have the following three parts in every topic sentence:

1. Phrase to connect paragraph to other paragraphs

2. Main subject of the paragraph

3. Claim about the subject of the paragraph

If you include these three things in your body topic sentences, and you do it with the good clear grammar that I will explain in a moment, your body paragraph will be off to a very good start.

So now let’s take a look at a typical IELTS task 2 question, one that we in fact used in the previous podcast on analysing questions. The topic of this question is tourism and its effect on traditional societies around the world.

An increase in tourism has had a significant effect on traditional society’s way of life. Many people argue that this change has brought about progress. Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer.

If you remember from last time, we broke this question into three parts, which are reviewed below.

a. The instruction:

Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer.

b. The topic:

An increase in tourism / Traditional society’s way of life.

c. The issue

Whether this change has brought progress or not.

With this information in hand, we can now construct one of our body topic sentences. Here we go:

Body paragraph 1 topic sentence:

On the one hand, one negative effect of an increase in tourism is that the lifestyles of traditional people are significantly damaged in a number of ways.

Let’s analyse this body topic sentence.

1. Phrase to connect = “On the one hand, one negative effect of an increase in tourism is that“

2. Main subject of paragraph = “the lifestyle’s of traditional people”

3. Claim = “are significantly damaged in a number of ways”

Now let’s try the topic sentence for the second body, which will state the opposite side of the question.

Body paragraph 2 topic sentence:

On the other hand, some positive effects of an increase in tourism are that traditional people will be able to earn more money and send their children to school for a better education.

Let’s do some analysis:

1. Phrase to connect = “On the other hand, some positive effects of an increase in tourism are that”

2. Main subject = “traditional people”

3. Claim = “will be able to earn more money and send their children to school for a better education”

If we look closely we can see that these sentences sound great, but there are some very simple grammatical rules holding everything together.

The phrase to connect should start with a little cohesion marker like “on the one hand”, and finish with “is/are that”.

The main subject should be a singular or plural noun.

The claim should start with a modal verb like “will”, “may” or “might” which should be followed by a ‘be’ verb such as “is” or “are”.

In today’s podcast I have taught you how to write a fairly simple body topic sentence that should make you feel confident and help you to save time.

See you next time!