Do you struggle to write Discuss Both Views IELTS essays? Are you confused about how to write these essays?
Then this video will help you! In this video, you can watch me plan and write an IELTS Writing Task 2 Discuss Both Views essay. You will see the exact steps you need to take to write a high scoring IELTS Writing Task 2 Essay. You can watch me as I plan, structure and write this IELTS essay.
So if you want to score a Band 7, Band 8 or Band 9 in IELTS Writing, this video is for you.
Task
Some people think that competition at work, at school and in daily life is a good thing. Others believe that we should try to cooperate more, rather than competing against each other.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
(Cambridge IELTS Academic Book 19 Test 1)
Essay
When people discuss how to achieve excellence, they often compare the merits of competition and cooperation. This essay will examine both views before presenting my own position.
One commonly-held view is that competition is the best way to excel because, by encouraging people to aim to be better than everyone else, outcomes will be improved. For example, competition in sales departments may lead to sales representatives being more effective, while in schools, pushing students to reach the top of the class in examinations may stimulate them to study harder.
However, an alternative view is that cooperation is preferable to competition because it leads to people sharing ideas and working together for the common good. An example of this in daily life might be local residents working together to improve their community, perhaps by clearing litter or volunteering to help people in need. In business, collaboration can often lead to innovation and more effective problem solving because of the different skills and perspectives held by the group.
I generally agree that in most contexts, cooperation leads to better outcomes and a greater sense of wellbeing. Moreover, competition can actually demotivate those who are not near the top. For instance, weaker or average students may resign themselves to mediocrity if they lose all hope of competing for the top places in a class, and the same applies to people in the workplace. So for many people, competition is not better, although it may be effective in certain situations, especially when outcomes can be quantified, such as with sales results. In addition, when people compete with themselves by making small, incremental improvements, this can be a powerful way to build skills and habits.
In conclusion, while some people feel that competition is better because it encourages people to succeed, others believe that because cooperation stimulates working together, it leads to better overall outcomes. I generally agree with this second view but with certain caveats.
Vocabulary List
Here is a list of natural vocabulary that will give this essay a high band score for Lexical Resource. Many words have a precise meaning (eg “outcomes”, “sales departments”). Some show a good understanding of natural collocation (eg “the merits of”, “an alternative view”, “clearing litter”). There are also some examples of colloquial and idiomatic language (eg “pushing students”, “the common good”).
Notice that a lot of vocabulary in the list are made up of GROUPS of words, not individual words. At Band 7 and above, IELTS Examiners are looking for groups of words (lexical items), not just individual words.
- achieve excellence
- the merits of
- one commonly-held view
- the best way to excel
- by encouraging people to
- outcomes
- sales departments
- sales representatives
- pushing students to reach the top of the class
- an alternative view
- preferable to
- sharing ideas
- working together
- the common good
- local residents
- clearing litter
- volunteering to help people in need
- innovation
- more effective problem solving
- perspectives held by
- in most contexts
- a greater sense of wellbeing
- demotivate
- near the top
- resign themselves to
- mediocrity
- quantified
- making small, incremental improvements
- habits
- caveats
Practice Exercises
Exercise 1
Complete the essay by dragging the missing words into the spaces. Good luck!
Exercise 2
Match the word or phrase with the definition.
