I nte r nati o nal e n g LI s h lan g uag e testi n g syste m

Technology is becoming increasingly prevalent in the world today.  In the 

not too distant future, technology will completely replace the teacher in the 

classroom.  Analyze both sides of this argument.

Although the keywords and qualifying words are the same, the action words have 

changed.  They are now instructing the student to look at both sides of the state-

ment.  Unfortunately, an argument essay structure does not comfortably allow for 

discussion, so the organizing of the student’s essay needs to change.  The structure 

that allows for the analyzing of opinions is called a discussion essay.

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IELTS Academic and General Task 2: How to write at a band 9 level

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Discussion essay structure is in many ways the inverse of argument essay structure.  

To illustrate, look at the following table comparing the two:

Argument Essay

Paragraph 1 - Introduction



Sentence 1 - Background statement



Sentence 2 - Detailed background 

statement



Sentence 3 - Thesis



Sentence 4 - Outline sentence

Paragraph 2 - First supporting paragraph



Sentence 1 - Topic sentence



Sentence 2 - Example



Sentence 3 - Discussion



Sentence 4 - Conclusion

Paragraph 3 - Second supporting paragraph



Sentence 1 - Topic sentence



Sentence 2 - Example



Sentence 3 - Discussion



Sentence 4 - Conclusion

Paragraph 4 - Conclusion



Sentence 1 - Summary



Sentence 2 - Restatement of thesis



Sentence 3 - Prediction or recom-

mendation