Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-21

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)

There are chances of major social and practical problems appearing while speaking a foreign language in another country. I agree with the statement as language is the way how we express our feelings, if a person is unable to communicate well with others, he or she will get isolated.

Speaking in language other than mother tounge will have certain robotic feeling that will slow down the conversation flow. Since, the foreigner has to convert the ideas from their mother tounge, the fluency would not be achieved; and therefore, others may not understand what the user actually mean. This trend may also occur in a reverse order. To exemplify, people often use idiomatic expressions in their normal conversation, natives may not realize this but the non-native will immediately pick up on this among normal talks.

In case of other situations like talking to shopkeeper, friend, or workplace, groups will be formed based on their origin. Although the foreigner can speak, listen and understand the language, tone and accent of people differ within the country. Unless the other person is speaking clearly with only mild accent, which is unlikely, the foreigner will not understand the speech. Alienation could also be possible if the country's citizens do not want to talk to the non-native, which will eventually lead him to go back to his country.

To conclude, there are number of problems when a person goes to foreign country, from talking to Walmart employee and to understanding and communicating with friends, in the worst case scenario, the person may also go to depression because of limited interaction.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both social and practical problems associated with speaking a foreign language. The writer takes a clear position in the introduction, stating agreement with the statement. Ideas are presented, such as isolation, difficulties in conversation flow, and alienating work or social environments. However, these ideas are somewhat limited and lack deep extension. For instance, the mention of talking to a 'Walmart employee' or 'friends' is a bit brief and under-developed. While all parts of the prompt are addressed, the level of development and support corresponds to the Band 6 descriptor, where relevant ideas are present but some remain under-developed or general.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear attempt at paragraphing, moving from a general introduction to specific linguistic and social points, and concluding summarily. Cohesive devices are employed, such as 'To exemplify,' 'Although,' and 'To conclude.' However, referencing and transitions are at times mechanical or slightly faulty, as seen in sentences like 'This trend may also occur in a reverse order' and the somewhat abrupt shift in the final paragraph regarding depression. Paragraphing is adequate, but transitions between ideas lack seamless flexibility. These characteristics align closely with Band 6 descriptors, showing coherent overall arrangement despite mechanical or occasionally faulty cohesion.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully conveying meaning with terms like 'isolated,' 'idiomatic expressions,' and 'alienation.' There are, however, noticeable errors in word choice and collocation, such as 'speaking in language other than mother tounge' (missing article, spelling of 'tongue'), 'robotic feeling,' and 'go to depression' instead of 'fall into depression.' Less common vocabulary is attempted with some inaccuracy. While these errors do not impede overall communication, they prevent the lexical score from reaching the higher bands, fitting comfortably within Band 6 where vocabulary is adequate but contains spelling and word-choice errors.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response demonstrates a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing structures with 'although,' relative clauses, and conditionals. There are, nevertheless, frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including missing articles ('in language other than'), subject-verb agreement issues ('natives may not realize this but the non-native will immediately pick up'), and awkward phrasing ('there are number of problems'). Punctuation is generally acceptable, and errors rarely impede overall communication, but the frequency of non-systematic slips prevents the writing from achieving a Band 7. The profile fits a Band 6, featuring a mix of structures alongside noticeable grammatical errors.

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