Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-10-04

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people say that the only reason for learning a foreign language is in order to travel to or work in a foreign country. Others say that these are not the only reasons why someone should learn a foreign language.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.0)

A number of people thinks that the reason for learning a second language is only to visit or work in a foreign nation, but many argue and say this is not the only reason to learn seacond language.

Many tourist visit the most known places every year, in order to get comfortable with their trips they learn the native language of that country. Many people work abroad and they always interact with the locals, if they don't know their native langauge they may face many difficulties. For example a foreign employer working in a super mart must know the native language of that nation to deal the customers.

But many people learn the foriegn tounge just to explore the culture and history the that foriegn state. But many students learn a aseacond language to persue their higher education in a big country. For example a Pakistani student learns English as a seacond language to study at Harvard, Cambridge or any othe well know university accordnig to their interest.

The way I see it, the main reson to learn a foreign language is to work and study. Because the citizens of a developing country wants live in a developed country like USA, Japan or UK.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

The response addresses the prompt by discussing both views and providing a personal opinion, but the ideas remain limited and under-developed. While the introduction outlines the two opposing perspectives, the body paragraphs present brief, repetitive points without sufficient support or extension. For instance, the mention of tourists and foreign workers touches upon travel and work, but these arguments lack depth. Furthermore, the length requirement is not met, as the response contains only 204 words, falling short of the mandatory 250-word minimum. To reach a higher band, the writer needs to expand their main ideas with more detailed explanations, concrete examples, and fully satisfy the minimum word count.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The essay displays some organisation and attempts to group ideas into paragraphs, but there is no clear overall progression throughout the text. While basic cohesive devices are used to link sentences, such as 'For example' and 'But', referencing is sometimes unclear, and transitions feel mechanical. Paragraphing is attempted, but the grouping of ideas lacks smooth logical flow, particularly in the transition between exploring culture and pursuing education. To improve in this area, the writer should ensure that each paragraph builds logically upon the previous one and use a wider variety of cohesive markers more naturally.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is limited but minimally adequate for the task. The writer attempts some less common vocabulary, such as 'developing country' and 'higher education', but there are noticeable lexical and spelling errors that occasionally cause difficulty for the reader, such as 'seacond' instead of second, 'foriegn tounge' instead of foreign tongue, 'reson' instead of reason, and 'accordnig' instead of according. Word choice is sometimes repetitive, relying heavily on basic terms. To achieve a higher score, the writer must expand their lexical range and eliminate spelling errors by proofreading their work carefully.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

The text demonstrates a very limited range of structures, relying mostly on simple sentences with occasional, faulty attempts at complex clauses. There are frequent grammatical errors throughout the essay, including subject-verb agreement issues like 'A number of people thinks' and pronoun-noun agreement problems such as 'citizens... wants live'. Additionally, errors in article usage, prepositions, and sentence fragments (e.g., 'Because the citizens of a developing country wants live in a developed country') can cause difficulty for the reader. To improve, the writer needs to practice forming accurate complex sentences and check for basic grammatical agreement.

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