2. Objectives:
▸Discuss and use language for describing
tables (Task 1)
▸Identify steps to write an essay
▸Analyse a Task 2 essay question
▸Use steps to plan an effective essay
3. Warmer: Which do you prefer? And why?
▸Waking up early or Waking up late?
▸Eating at home or Eating at a
restaurant?
▸Writing a letter or Sending an email?
▸Watching a film at home or Watching a film at
the cinema?
▸Summer or Winter?
▸Living alone or Living with your
family?
▸Swimming in the sea or Swimming in a
pool?
▸holiday in your country or Holiday abroad?
4. Comparatives and Superlatives
▸Comparatives are used to compare 2 things:
▸Leopards are faster than tigers.
▸Superlatives are used to compare 1 thing against a group
of others:
▸The leopard is the largest of the four big cats.
5. Can you compare these?
▸goldfish, gorilla, human – intelligent
▸ lane, motorway, road – wide
▸ plane, car, bicycle – fast
▸ mansion, apartment, house – large
▸ gold ring, diamond ring, silver ring – expensive
▸ baby, adult, teenager – old
6. Example Word Comparative Superlative
Words with one syllable
high
cheap
clean
higher
cheaper
Words with two syllables
spacious
modern
Words with three syllables
or more
productive
expensive
comfortable
old-fashioned
industrial
more productive
Words ending in –y
wealthy
cosy
ugly
Short words ending in a
vowel consonant
hot hotter
Irregular good the best
7. Irregular forms
good better best
bad worse worst
little less least
much more most
far further /
farther
furthest /
farthest
8. Other important language
▸Comparatives and superlatives are useful to compare and
contrast, but they won't be enough.
▸Here are some other useful words and structures …
9. PART 1: WHAT IS THE CORRECT PHRASE?
1. The Middle East produces high levels of oil, ___ /___
Japan produces none.
2. Developing countries are ___ reliant on alternative
energy production ___ developed counties.
3. Solar power accounts for (___) ____ of the total energy
production ____ gas or coal does.
4. _______ the Middle East produces 100 tons of oil, Japan
produces none.
5. Hydropower is (___) ___ efficient ____ wind power.
6. Japan ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ South Korea concerning
the use of natural gas.
7. All countries use a large amount of natural gas, ___ ___ /
___ ___ Russia.
10. 1. _______ the Middle East produces high levels of oil,
Japan produces none.
2. The UAE produces ___ ___ ____ __ oil ____ Saudi
Arabia.
3. ___ Japan, South Korea does not produce any natural
gas.
4. The amount of oil that Germany uses is ______ ___
/___ ___ the other countries.
5. The Middle East produces (____) ___ ___ ___ oil ___
Europe.
6. Russia consumes ___ /___ ___ /___ oil ___ Germany.
7. Western countries consume ___ ___ ___ oil ___ the
Middle East.
PART 2: WHAT IS THE CORRECT PHRASE?
11. ▸3 different houses/apartments…
▸Go to https://www.pararius.nl
▸Choose three
apartments/houses that are for
rent in Amsterdam
COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE THREE APARTMENTS WITH A PARTNER.
MAKE NOTES ON YOUR IDEAS.
13. Imagine it’s a task 1 question…
▸The tables show information about
different rental properties in Amsterdam.
Summarise the information by selecting
and reporting the main features, and make
comparisons where relevant.
14. Different Types of data
2. bar charts 3. line graphs
4. tables
5. cycles/
processes
6. maps
1. pie charts
15. Planning your answer
▸Step 1 – analyse the data
- Make notes on the question paper.
- Summarise and compare
- Mark main points
▸Step 2 – organise your material
- Logical order
- Strong overview
- Paragraphs and points
- Link the paragraphs
16. REMEMBER!
In your introduction, tell
the reader what the
diagram is about, but you
mustn’t repeat the
question. You need to
reword the question. This
takes some practice…
17. Writing an introduction
▸Original:
▸The graph shows life expectancy for males and females in
the UK from 1901 to 2025.
▸Paraphrased:
▸The line graph gives average lengths of life for men and
women in the UK between 1901 and 2025. The figures from
about 2002 onwards are projections.
18. Original:
The graph shows life expectancy for males and females
in the UK from 1901 to 2025.
Paraphrased:
The line graph gives average lengths of life for men and
women in the UK between 1901 and 2025. The figures
from about 2002 onwards are projections.
19. Activity – What do you see?
Type of
data?
Time frame?
Units of
measureme
nt?
Categories?
Places?
24. Writing an overview
What is an overview?
How much detail should I include?
Where do I need to place it in the text?
25. Overview
The line graph below shows changes in the
amount and type of fast food consumed by
Australian teenagers from 1975 to 2000.
Summarise the information by selecting and
reporting the main features and make comparisons
where relevant.
What general
trends can you
identify?
Are there any
extremes? Any
opposites?
It can be seen from the graph that the popularity of
hamburgers rose dramatically among Australian
teenagers whereas the fish and chips gradually
decreased.
26. Now try yourself
The maps below show the village of Stokeford in 1930 and
2010.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main
features, and make comparisons where relevant.
27. The charts below show
the reasons why people
travel to work by bicycle
or by car.
Summarise the
information by selecting
and reporting the main
features, and make
comparisons where
relevant.
28. The table below shows the cinema viewing figures for films by
country, in millions.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main
features, and make comparisons where relevant.
29. The diagram shows how fruit is canned.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main
features, and make comparisons where relevant.
30.
31. COMPARATIVE STRUCTURES AND
EXPRESSIONS
Well over
More than
Just over
About
Roughly
Approximately
Almost
Just under
Less than
Well under
A quarter
A third
Two-thirds
Three-quarters
of
the income is from agriculture.
the money was spent on books.
the people questioned said….
farmers are losing money.
the damage was caused by fire.
marriages end in divorce
the coffee harvest is exported.
Half
All
1%
25%
25.3%
of
The majority
A minority
Most
Not much/many
Very little/ few
32. NOW TRY YOURSELF: PERCENTAGES &
FRACTIONS
▸Write the following percentages as fractions in word form:
% Phrase
33%
79%
49%
23.5%
90%
50%
33. Techniques for tables
Show the two types of categories that the data belongs to:
Food Clothing
October $250 $150
November $200 $200
34. Food Clothing
October $250 $150
November $200 $200
E.g. monthly budget
1. Don’t just identify individual data
2. We can make simple calculations by adding together
rows/columns.
3. Look at adding together the figures from the rows and
columns
4. The numbers are usually fairly simple and the number
doesn’t need to be exact!
35. Tables compare data and may also show changes over
time as well. They are often used when there is quite a lot
of information, so it is important to select the key features
to describe.
It can sometimes help to group information together
36.
37.
38. Tips for IELTS Tables
1. Put all your key features in the overview.
2. Be selective, don’t put too many features in the report.
3. Make sure you write over 150 words but aim for less than
200.
4. Use a range of linking devices eg. Compared to/as
opposed to/while/in terms of, etc.
Editor's Notes
whereas/while – provide this as an example
more.. than
(far) less…than
Although
(not) as…as
has a lot in common with
apart from/except for
To make it easier- write options on the board for them to choose from
Put your ideas into a table using the following headings. Make sure the information correctly correlates with the correct heading.
What has been changed in the original?
Tools – synonyms + phrases are rearranged
This takes practice
Try it out, widen your vocabulary. Don’t think that you can’t do it – always try.
Type of data: line graph
Time frame: 1976 – 2000
Units of measurement – number of times eaten per year
Categories – pizza, fish and chips, hamburgers
Places – Australia
One way to get students to stop copying the rubric and writing a more effective introduction is to not let them see the task, instead only show them the graph and let them figure out what the graph shows and write a sentence. The less they are presented with, the less they can copy – encouraging them to use their own words.
If you prefer to let your students paraphrase, simply add the original task statement to the slide.
Example slide: ask students some questions related to: type of data, time frame, units of measurement, categories, x-axis and y-axis?
Let them come up with a nice sentence that describes this graph.
Original task: The line graph below shows changes in the amount and type of fast food consumed by Australian teenagers from 1975 to 2000.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.
You can also copy the images onto a handout and let students use a handout.
Original: The maps below show the village of Stokeford in 1930 and 2010.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Original: The charts below show the reasons why people travel to work by bicycle or by car.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Original: The table below shows the cinema viewing figures for films by country, in millions.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Original: The diagram shows how fruit is canned.
What is an overview? – a summary sentence that describes the overall trend
How much detail should I include? – specific numbers should not be mentioned, however, you should say ‘biggest/largest’
Where do I need to place it in the text? – can be at beginning or end, students often forget it at the end, therefore, it might be easier for them to put it right at the beginning so they do not forget
The pictures illustrate the development of the village of Stokeford that have taken place over a period of 80 years. In general, it is clearly shown that River Stoke and a bridge remained unchanged throughout the given period of time and many more houses had been constructed.
(can also be added to the slide if you want to share it with your students)
The table indicates that more Indian people watch films at the cinema than the other three nationalities. In all four countries, Action is the most popular genre of film.
When do we use percentages? Tables and pie charts usually.
33% - one third
79% - The majority, about 80%,
49% - Nearly half, just under half, about half
23.5% - Almost/nearly one quarter
90% - Nine out of ten, the vast majority, nearly all
50% - Half
In the second column – In these two months, $450 was spent on food and $350 was spent on clothing
Food is more expensive than clothing by about $100, $450 was spent on food in the months of October and November
$400 was spent on clothing and food from the budget in the month of November
The budget expense for these two months was equal at $400
In the second column – In these two months, $450 was spent on food and $350 was spent on clothing
Food is more expensive than clothing by about $100, $450 was spent on food in the months of October and November
$400 was spent on clothing and food from the budget in the month of November
The budget expense for these two months was equal at $400
To see the trends in a table, start by finding patterns under the horizontal and vertical headings. In the sample task you would analyse the age groups and activities. We can see that at different times in their lives Someland people have more or less free time and their priorities for how they spend their free time are different. In analysing the activities we can look for which age groups spend more time on individual or group, cheap or expensive, home or outdoor, strenuous or restful activities. By describing trends in this way, we can avoid having to describe every age group across every activity.
Who were the biggest spenders? And what did they spend on?
Who were the lowest spenders? And what did they spend on?
What was the most money spent on?
And least?
