Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-08-30

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

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?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

It has been widely argued that adapting the foreign language while living there can arise serious problems in both social and professional life. I largely agree with this ethos because migrants have different accent than natives and less proficiency.

First and foremost, when people settle down at new places outside their native place, they try to learn their language. Living in a different country since childhood and sudden transition comes, the accent they had already familiar with now need to be changed, which is not an easy task. As a result, the natives of the foreign countries feel uncomfortable hearing awful accent of their language and they discriminate them, which creates a problem for an outsider. For example, migrants visiting to a coffee shop and asking for a coffee, storekeeper would know easily that they do not belong to this country just by listening their voice, and what make them uncomfortable.

Moreover, families migrating to a new country and adapting a different language take a substantial amount of time acquiring large range of vocabularies and generating complex sentences. Consequently, they are less able to communicate with locals, negotiate with merchants, and articulate their needs. For instance, a family planning to have their own house and not able to say their requirements to broker because of less lexical resources they have.

As sum it up, I firmly believe with this notion that settlers coming to new places are facing difficulties in everyday life because of language barrier. It can be solved by mutual understanding with locals and initiating foreign language classes at minimal cost.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both social and practical problems associated with living in a foreign country. You have a clear position throughout the essay. However, the development of ideas is somewhat limited. For instance, the example regarding the coffee shop is a bit simplistic and does not fully explore the 'serious social problems' mentioned in the prompt. To reach a higher band, ensure that your supporting examples are more analytical and directly linked to the broader implications of the language barrier. While the task is addressed, the depth of the argument could be improved by providing more nuanced examples of professional or systemic social challenges.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay is organized into logical paragraphs, each with a clear central theme. You use some cohesive devices such as 'First and foremost', 'Moreover', and 'Consequently' to link your ideas. However, the flow is occasionally mechanical, and some transitions feel slightly forced. Referencing is sometimes unclear; for example, in the second paragraph, the phrase 'what make them uncomfortable' lacks a clear antecedent. To improve, focus on using a wider variety of cohesive devices and ensuring that pronouns and references clearly point back to the intended subjects to create a smoother, more natural progression of ideas.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, such as 'transition', 'articulate', and 'lexical resources'. However, there are several instances of awkward collocation and word choice, such as 'adapting the foreign language' (should be 'adopting' or 'learning'), 'awful accent' (which is subjective and imprecise), and 'large range of vocabularies' (vocabulary is an uncountable noun). These errors occasionally impede the precision of your expression. To improve, focus on learning common collocations and using vocabulary in more natural, idiomatic contexts rather than relying on direct translations or slightly inaccurate phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The essay uses a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. However, there are frequent grammatical errors that affect the clarity of your writing. Examples include 'migrants have different accent than natives' (missing articles), 'migrants visiting to a coffee shop' (incorrect verb form), and 'I firmly believe with this notion' (incorrect preposition). While these errors do not completely prevent the reader from understanding your meaning, they are frequent enough to be noticeable. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement, the correct use of articles, and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed with greater accuracy.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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