Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-03

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)

Many people choose to leave their native countries to go live in other countries for the purpose of work, study, medication, or simply for long vacations. As this helps the individual achieve a goal, it comes with some difficulties.

The main contraint is speak the foreign language for that country. The visitor should master the language at a certain degree to avoid confusion with the locals or to simply get a job to start with.

Not having the necessary languistic skills can easily cause serious social problems, such as misunderstandings, confusion and not being able to communicate with others to express needs. This affects the person's ability to apply for a job as easily as in his native country.

That's when the practical parts start. As the individual finds himself isolated, he starts spiraling in vague circles. The inabilty to communicate with others creates anxiety and isolation for the indvidual which reduces his capabilty of learning that language as he's not able to practice it.

Even if the individual is able to communicate with others in their language, it's still necessary to be aware of the manners and ethics of the country, as language itself is just a reflection of the people's culture. For example, a person from Tunisia, even though he could speak German fluently, won't have the same humor, the same manners, or even the same small talk with people from Germany; People in Tunisia greet other people whenever they meet, it doesn't matter if they knew the person or not, greeting is a huge part of the Tunisian culture. In Germany greeting is optional, sometimes unrequired even. That creates a barrier between the locals and the visitor for Tunisia and can sometimes create more deep issues.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both the social and practical problems associated with living in a foreign-language country, and includes a relevant personal comparison about cultural norms like greeting habits. However, the development of ideas remains somewhat limited and under-developed. For instance, the transition from language barriers to 'practical parts' and anxiety is introduced rather abruptly without sufficient elaboration or concrete examples in the early sections. While the position on the issue is generally clear, the arguments tend to touch upon several points superficially rather than extending them fully. To move toward higher bands, the writer needs to provide deeper explanations and more fully supported examples for each main idea presented.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement, with a clear introduction, body paragraphs tackling specific aspects of the prompt, and a concluding cultural example. However, the progression of ideas is sometimes hindered by basic and repetitive referencing, such as starting multiple sentences or clauses with 'the individual' or 'the visitor'. Cohesive devices are used, but they can feel mechanical or slightly inadequate in linking sentences smoothly, as seen in the abrupt shift from discussing job applications to 'That's when the practical parts start.' Paragraphing is attempted, but some paragraphs are quite brief and lack internal cohesion. Improving the variety of linking expressions and ensuring smoother logical transitions between sentences would elevate this aspect.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully incorporating terms such as 'misunderstandings,' 'isolated,' 'anxiety,' and 'reflection.' However, there are noticeable lexical inaccuracies and awkward word choices throughout the text. For example, 'contraint' is misspelled, 'speak the foreign language' contains an incorrect verb form, and 'languistic skills' is a non-standard form of linguistic. Additionally, phrases like 'spiraling in vague circles' or 'more deep issues' show limited precision and awkward collocation. To achieve a higher band score, the writer must expand their control over less common vocabulary, ensure correct word forms, and pay closer attention to spelling and natural phrasing.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating an attempt to use relative clauses and conditional structures, such as 'Even if the individual is able to communicate...' However, these complex structures frequently contain errors, such as 'The main contraint is speak the foreign language' (incorrect infinitive usage), 'it doesn't matter if they knew the person' (tense inconsistency), and 'in Germany greeting is optional, sometimes unrequired even' (faulty punctuation and adjective choice). Frequent errors in verb patterns, prepositions, and sentence boundaries are present, which occasionally cause slight difficulty for the reader. Incorporating a higher proportion of error-free complex sentences and tightening grammatical control over basic structures will greatly strengthen this area.

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