16. IELTS Task 2 : "7 connecting phrases to use"

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OK guys so I don’t have a lot of time today. Corona virus seems to have made me more busy than usual even. Today let’s focus on some different ways to make topic sentences. The way we will do this is by expanding the connecting phrase from last time to include seven new words that we can use depending on the situation. Let’s introduce these seven words below, along with the (prepositions) and (other elements) that go with them.

1. An explanation + for + NOUN

2. A drawback + of + NOUN / GERUND

3. An advantage + of + NOUN / GERUND

4. A consequence + of + NOUN / GERUND

5. A justification + for + GERUND

6. A way + to + INFINITIVE

7. A reason + why + NOUN

A good safe way to write the topic sentence of a body is to use a connecting phrase such as “On the one hand,” and combine it with one of these seven phrases. Let’s take a look at an example for the following question from Cambridge IELTS 13:

Living in a country where you have to speak a foreign language can cause serious social problems, as well as practical problems.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Body paragraph topic sentence 1:

On the one hand, one drawback of speaking a foreign language is that it can cause a lot of social problems, such as reclusiveness and friction.

If we analyse this body paragraph topic sentence we can see it closely follows a structural formula.

1. Connecting phrase = “On the one hand,”

2. Topic = “one drawback of speaking a foreign language”

3. ‘be’ + that

4. Subject = “it”

5. Claim (modal + verb) = “can cause ...”

Shall we try again for the body 2? Let’s do it.

Body paragraph topic sentence 2:

On the other hand, an advantage of talking in a different language is that a person can grow and develop a new skill.

The second body matches the first one and adds a very nice sense of balance to the body section.

One thing we do need to be aware of when we use these phrases, and a problem I have noticed with my own students is that when they use number 5 (“a justification”) they often do not know how to use it. This phrase follows a special formula. We basically use “justification” to talk about doing something that will upset a lot of people but finally lead to a good result. Let’s take a look.

On the one hand, a justification for laying off half the work force (bad thing that will make many people unhappy) is that the company will be able to remain in business (good result).

So if you guys to write better topic sentences using these nice tips, I’m sure you will be on the road to achieving a 6.0+ for your task 2 essays.

See you next time!