Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 13 · 2026-10-11

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 foreign languge while resident in a country can cause serious social and practical challenges. I agree to the extent that language as a means of communication is important and where one is unable to speak a foreign language while resident in a country can cause social and practical problems.

Man is a social being and language forms a fundamental part of his daily living. A person who is a living in a country where you have to speak a foreign language may not be able to make friends especially when the foreign language is not his mothertongue. This is owing to the fact that he will find it difficult to communicate effectively with others and make new friends. A typical example was when a childhood friend of mine secured a job overseas and as a result of his inability to speak the foreign languge while resident in the country, he found it very difficult to make new acquintances and communicate appropriately with his neighbours.

Furthermore, one may find it difficult to buy foodstuffs in a grocery shop especially where the means of communication is the foreign language. A practical example was when I travelled to visit my niece at Sweden which was a non-english speaking country. It dawned on me that I had great difficulty communicating with the attendents in other to make inquiries for my prefered items and to also make payments.

I agree to the extent that being resident in a country where you have to speak forign language can cause social and practical problems.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You take a clear position in agreeing that living where a foreign language is needed can create both social and practical difficulties. The examples about your friend struggling to make friends and your visit to Sweden support the two sides of the prompt. However, the discussion is brief and the ideas are not developed far: for instance, you could explain how communication difficulties affect everyday independence or access to services. The conclusion repeats the position rather than drawing the points together. The response contains 239 words, so it is 11 words below the 250-word minimum; the 20 words copied from the task prompt are not counted. This shortfall contributes to the limited development of the response.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable structure: an introduction, a paragraph on social problems, one on practical problems, and a conclusion. The progression from difficulty making friends to difficulty shopping is logical, and linking phrases such as “Furthermore” help signal the shift. However, the overall development is quite brief, and the conclusion largely repeats the introduction instead of summarising the supporting points. Some connections are also awkward, particularly the repeated wording about being “resident in a country” and the long opening sentence, which makes the position less direct. Use clearer topic sentences and develop each paragraph through a point, explanation, and example to make the progression more complete.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use enough topic-related vocabulary to communicate the main ideas, including “means of communication,” “make new friends,” and “practical problems.” There are also attempts at more specific wording, such as “make inquiries” and “communicate effectively.” However, the range is limited and some expressions are repetitive or imprecise, especially repeated references to a “foreign language” and “resident in a country.” Spelling errors such as “languge,” “acquintances,” and “attendents” are noticeable, while “mothertongue” is not conventionally written as one word. Aim for more precise alternatives and check spelling carefully; this would make the examples easier to follow and the vocabulary more controlled.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

You attempt both simple and complex sentences, including clauses introduced by “especially when” and “as a result of,” and the main meaning is generally understandable. However, several sentence patterns are awkward or inaccurate. For example, “A person who is a living in a country” contains an unnecessary verb form, and “where one is unable to speak … can cause” has an unclear subject structure. In “I travelled to visit my niece at Sweden,” the preposition and sentence construction are not well controlled; “in Sweden” would be appropriate. The response also relies heavily on long sentences joined by “and.” Practise building accurate subject–verb structures and vary sentence length so complex ideas remain clear.

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

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