Academic Writing Task 1 Process Text

Jonathan Friesen - Writing Coach

The process diagram is in many ways the odd one out in academic task 1 and it requires some different language from the other task types. In it, i talk you through some of the difficulties in describing a process and suggest some basic techniques to help you understand the diagram and write the description. The first step in learning to write about a process diagram is to see where the process starts and ends. The obvious thing to do is to start at the beginning and carry on until you get to the end. Where is  the beginning here? the customer pays by credit card item 1. where is the end? the merchant receives his money item 7. Typically, there will be some problem in understanding the diagram: it is not always the case that everything is in a natural order. In the diagram above, we see the following details: there are 5 parties involved the pictures who there are 7 stages in the process the numbers how many some of the arrows point in two different directions this needs to be explained item 4 seems to be out of order as it is next to 1 this is another thinking task.

Before you start writing, you want to see if there is some way to organise your report into paragraphs. This is not absolutely essential but it can help the organisation of your writing. In the diagram above, there does seem to be a logical solution, as the process falls in to two parts: as this is the case, i am going to do the logical thing and divide my description into two main paragraphs. One to describe the authorisation process until the customer gets his/her money and one for the payment process until the merchant is paid. Again, you want to ask yourself questions, such as: todays example of a process diagram is just for fun. Its unlikely that you would be asked to describe a process this difficult in the real test! the illustration below shows the process of tying a bow tie. write a report explaining to a university lecturer how to tie his bow tie. the diagram illustrates how to knot a bow tie in eight stages. To begin with, the tie should be placed around the neck, with one end slightly longer than the other.

Then place the longer end over the other and pass it upwards and behind the point where the two ends cross. Take the long end of the tie and form a similar s shape before passing it through the narrow gap behind the other end. Finally, adjust both sides of the bow to make it symmetrical and prepare to be the envy of your friends. task achievement: the model answer fully satisfies all requirements of the task by describing each stage in the process. coherence and cohesion: the model answer uses a range of sequencing expressions to describe the order in which the actions should be carried out. The answer is divided into several paragraphs for ease of understanding, with the inclusion of a general sentence now comes the trickiest part of the process – to aid coherence.

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lexical resource: a range of appropriate vocabulary is introduced, including action verbs such as knot. grammatical range and accuracy: the correct forms – imperatives, modals – are used to give instructions. As i mentioned in my introduction above, this ielts writing task 1 question is not entirely serious. It would be quite shocking to have to describe a process like this one in the real exam. Almost every diagram in ielts writing task 1 contains some vocabulary in the form of labels.

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The dam creates a large reservoir and the powerhouse is where the electricity is generated. First of all, water trapped in the reservoir behind the dam is forced through an intake. It then flows into a narrow chamber called a penstock, where the resulting high pressure turns a turbine. the turbine is connected to a generator in the powerhouse above, and this is where the movement of the turbine is converted into electricity. The resulting electricity leaves the powerhouse via cables that carry it over long distances to where it can be used.

It is interesting to note that a hydroelectric dam creates no harmful byproducts and relies entirely on natural forces to produce electricity. After the turbine stage, water flows out through a second channel and into a river. task achievement:  the introduction paraphrases the question and describes the constituent parts of the process. coherence and cohesion:  the model answer has an introduction, body and conclusion.

The articles a and the are used effectively to introduce and refer back to different elements of the process. lexical resource:  the labels in the diagram are well integrated into the model answer and appropriate verbs such as converted. Less common words such as byproducts and renewable are introduced by the writer. grammatical range and accuracy:  the writer uses the present simple tense and has good control of subject verb agreement and active/passive forms. The challenge is how well you can integrate the vocabulary into a coherent report. The examiner is also looking at how you use sequencing expressions to show the order of events.

Finally, remember that most processes happen at any time, so use only the present simple tense. would you like me to check your ielts writing answers and give you expert feedback based on the official scoring criteria? my online  ielts writing practice test  will show you how to improve by a whole band score in just two days.  read more. in ielts academic writing task 1 you will be tested on your ability to describe and interpret information presented in a graph, table, chart or diagram. You will need to describe trends, compare and contrast data or report statistical information.

Occasionally you will need to describe a process which we will explain in another section. In order to do well in this section, you need to know specific vocabulary related to describing trends. Climb past: climbed go up past: went up grow past: grew increase past: increased jump past: jumped rise past: rose rocket past: rocketed sentence examples using words that show an upward trend: the number of enrolments increased significantly between 2005 and 2010. Decline past: declined decrease past: decreased drop past: dropped fall past: fell go down past: went down plummet past: plummeted to fall or drop suddenly in amount or value plunge past: plunged to fall or drop suddenly in amount or value plunge and plummet.

sentence examples using words that show a downward trend: prices of model x dropped significantly once model y became available on the market. To describe a more or less stable pattern, you can use the following expressions: maintain past: maintained remain past: remained stay past: stayed constant stable steady unchanged adverbs describe how something happens. Sharply, rapidly, quickly, steeply considerably, significantly, substantially steadily, gradually, moderately slightly, slowly to see the degree of intensity of these adverbs, look at the chart below. Decline decrease dip a momentarily small drop in the level of something drop fall fluctuation an irregular rising and falling in number or amount a variation growth increase peak the highest point rise slump a severe or prolonged fall in the price, value, or amount of something variation a change or difference in condition, amount, or level do not describe every small upwards or downwards movement.

You need to look at the important trends or characteristics and give a general overview. You will normally use verbs in the past tense when describing trends though always look for dates to confirm which tense to use. Even if your grammar and vocabulary is perfect, you will lose marks for not showing an accurate understanding. There are four stages in the process, beginning with the collection of information about the weather.