Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-09-27
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 individuals believe there is an increase in both social and practical issues which occurs when people reside in a nation where they communicate in a foreign language. I strongly agree with the notion as speaking foreign language can impede the native language of the individual.
The main reason i concur with this view is that frequent speaking in foreign language can make a person forget his or her own mother tongue. This steams from a fact when people who live overseas tend to speak the country's language constantly during interactions, thereby forgetting their own languages. As a result, their mother tongue is impeded, and they find it challenging to communicate with their languages. A prime example of this is commonly seen in people living outside their countries especially those aboard who communicate mainly in foreign languages.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 4.5 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 5.0 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.0 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.0 |
| Overall | 5.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 4.5
The response fails to meet the minimum length requirement, containing only 137 words compared to the required 250 words. Consequently, the development of ideas is severely cut short. The writer introduces a clear position agreeing with the statement, focusing specifically on the idea that speaking a foreign language can impede one's native language. However, the explanation is extremely limited, presenting only one main point without exploring social or practical problems in depth, such as employment barriers, cultural isolation, or administrative difficulties. While the position is stated, the lack of extension and under-development across the response keeps the task achievement score at Band 4.5.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0
The text demonstrates a basic attempt at logical organisation with an introduction and a supporting body paragraph. However, the overall progression is heavily constrained by the extreme brevity of the essay. Cohesive devices are used, but they are sometimes awkward, such as 'This steams from a fact when people...', which contains grammatical inaccuracies in referencing. Paragraphing is also disrupted, as the essay essentially consists of only one body paragraph before abruptly ending. While the sequencing of ideas makes sense on a micro level, the structural limitations and inadequate cohesion place this response firmly at Band 5.0.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.0
The student uses a minimally adequate vocabulary to express basic ideas, such as 'foreign language', 'mother tongue', and 'interact'. There are noticeable lexical errors, most notably the misspelling and incorrect collocation 'steams' instead of 'stems', and 'aboard' instead of 'abroad'. The range of vocabulary is limited and repetitive, with frequent recycling of terms like 'language' and 'speak'. Although communication is not entirely obscured, the frequent word-choice errors and restricted range prevent the response from achieving a higher score, matching the criteria for Band 5.0.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0
The essay displays a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting relative clauses ('people who live overseas') and conditional ideas. However, control over these structures is inconsistent. There are several grammatical errors and awkward phrasings, such as 'frequent speaking in foreign language can make a person' (missing articles) and 'find it challenging to communicate with their languages' (inappropriate preposition/collocation). Punctuation is generally acceptable, but grammatical errors are frequent enough to cause some difficulty for the reader, aligning with Band 5.0 descriptors.
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