Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-14

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 5.0)

Many people move to countries where they cannot communicate in a language that is not their mother tongue. Some argue that it is a social and particular problem for people who do not know about the language. In this essay, I agree with this problem that the language barrier can largely affect daily life of the people communicating with other people in this way this problem can gradually decrease in the now days.

One the one of the main reasons is that there is a big reason in communication, people who do not know the local language and cannot speak fluently can face problems in daily life, like in the shopping center, in the salon, and in the hospital, where they meet with the doctor; he canmot under stand the doctor what did he say that he feel the conclution and lead a frustation. For example, when you meet with the doctor, you cannot understand the doctor's advice and the government paperwork.

In addition, another reason is that you can face many social problems when you cannot know about the communication with people; you can face the problem to make the relation with other people. In this way, you cannot make friends. And feel lonely when you feel lonely and do not have any partner. And cannot share their problems with others felt stress. For example, when a student goes abroad for higher studies, they may feel difficulties in their studies and in making friends.

In my opinion, I do not agree with this statement. When a student goes abroad to study, by practicing conversation, he can speak fluently with confidence.

In conclusion, I agree with this argument; an individual can face serious social and personal problems in daily life when speaking a language that is not their native language, but if they can speak in daily conversations, they can adopt this language.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.0

The response attempts to address the prompt regarding the social and practical problems of living in a foreign-language country, but the position and argument become highly contradictory. In the introduction, the writer states 'I agree with this problem', but later asserts in the body 'In my opinion, I do not agree with this statement', and then concludes 'I agree with this argument'. This constant flip-flopping means the position is not clear throughout, aligning with the Band 5 descriptor where the position is not always clear and ideas are limited or under-developed. Although practical problems (shopping, hospitals) and social problems (making friends, loneliness) are mentioned, the development is often repetitive and confusing, hindering the overall task response.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.0

The essay uses basic paragraphing and attempts to sequence ideas using transitional markers such as 'One the one of the main reasons' and 'In addition'. However, cohesion is frequently faulty and mechanical. For instance, referencing is often unclear, as seen in confusing pronoun shifts and run-on phrasing like 'he canmot under stand the doctor what did he say that he feel the conclution and lead a frustation'. The overall progression is disrupted by contradictions in the writer's stance between paragraphs, which creates confusion for the reader. Paragraphing is present, but internal cohesion fails to maintain a smooth logical flow, fitting the Band 5 profile well.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally basic and repetitive, relying heavily on simple phrases such as 'daily life', 'social problems', and 'make friends'. There are noticeable lexical errors and awkward word choices, such as 'particular problem' instead of 'practical problem', 'now days' instead of 'nowadays', and 'conclution' for conclusion. Attempts to use less common vocabulary either result in incorrect collocations or unidiomatic expressions that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, such as 'lead a frustation' and 'adopt this language' in place of 'adapt to'. This performance is characteristic of Band 5, where the vocabulary is limited and noticeable errors occur.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The response demonstrates a very limited range of grammatical structures. While there are a few simple sentences that are understandable, attempts at complex sentences almost uniformly result in severe structural breakdowns, run-on fragments, and severe punctuation errors. Examples include 'where they meet with the doctor; he canmot under stand the doctor what did he say that he feel the conclution and lead a frustation.' Frequent errors in verb tense, subject-verb agreement, and clause structure heavily impede communication and cause continuous difficulty for the reader. This corresponds to a Band 4 or Band 5 level; given that some meaning is extractable, a 5.0 is appropriate due to the frequent, dense errors in complex attempts.

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

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