Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-25
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)
Speaking a different language in a foreing country can be difficult to adap scocially and can cause pratical problems. I partially agree with this statement becuase speaking entirely different language might hinder a person to build friendship and feel isolated. However, this social and practical problems can be solved easily by learning a foreign language.
On the one hand, it is undrstandable that to speak a different langauge apart from your mother tongue is a tough task. Language is an intregal part of communication. A person living in foreign country has to speak a language which is spoken by a native. If a person could not commuicate properly in foreign language might be unable to express their thoughts, build friendship which in result might force them feel isolated. Moreover, it might be difficult for a person to continue their daily routines, for eaxmple, an international student who is not proficient in speaking a foreign language will find difficulty in understanding the lectures or simply build a friendship with his fellow classmates. This will lower his confidence level and might be hard to find a smiple job because of poor communication skills.
On the other hand, I think it is not a grave problem that could not be overcomed. Adapting to foreign language, in the initially phase might be challenging but with great enthusiam, perseverance this problem can be solved effectively. For instance, listening to English podcasts, reading daily news paper, learning new vocabulary and practicing to speak english with the native speaker will foster an individual to built confidence to communicate.
In conculsion, although speaking foreign language in a different country might be overwhelming and force to become isolated, I believe that with strong determination and consistency to improve the language barrie will allow an individual to become confident in communicating with foreign people and socialize.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 5.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.5 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5
The candidate addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both the social and practical problems of living in a foreign language environment, and offers a clear position of partial agreement. Ideas are extended and supported with relevant examples, such as international students facing difficulties with lectures or finding jobs, and practical solutions like listening to podcasts and reading newspapers. However, some arguments tend to over-generalise, and certain supporting points are slightly under-developed before transitioning to the next paragraph. While the response presents a clear viewpoint throughout, minor development gaps keep it aligned with the Band 6 descriptors, as the exploration of the prompt's nuances could be pushed further for a higher band.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5
The essay presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear introduction, two body paragraphs representing opposing views, and a conclusion. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate ideas. However, cohesion is sometimes faulty or mechanical, with awkward transitions such as "In conculsion, although speaking foreign language... might force to become isolated". Referencing is occasionally unclear, as seen in "this social and practical problems", where the pronoun agreement is flawed. Additionally, transitional phrases feel slightly formulaic ("On the one hand", "On the other hand"), reflecting the characteristics of a Band 6 performance where logical flow is generally maintained despite mechanical cohesive devices.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The candidate demonstrates an adequate vocabulary range for the task, attempting less common lexical items such as "intregal", "perseverance", and "overwhelming". However, there are noticeable spelling errors throughout the text, including "foreing", "adap", "scocially", "pratical", "undrstandable", "langauge", "commuicate", "eaxmple", "initially", "enthusiam", and "conculsion". Furthermore, there are awkward word choices and collocation slips, such as "hinder a person to build friendship", "force them feel isolated", and "improve the language barrie". These errors do not seriously impede communication, but the frequency of spelling and lexical inaccuracies restricts the score to Band 5.5.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in structure through conditional clauses and relative pronouns (e.g., "If a person could not commuicate properly in foreign language might be unable to..."). However, there are frequent grammatical errors, particularly regarding missing subjects, incorrect verb forms, and prepositional use, such as "might force them feel isolated" (missing 'to'), "find difficulty in understanding" (awkward gerund usage), and "in the initially phase". Punctuation is generally acceptable, but the density of grammatical slips across complex structures places this performance firmly at Band 5.0, where errors frequently cause some difficulty for the reader.
See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.
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