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

tasks of human teachers in the classroom.

In summary, a robotic teacher would lack the classroom dynamism and emotional intelli-

gence needed to be an effective instructor. Thus, it is clear why having a class run entirely 

by a machine is an idea that will not be realised anytime soon. As this essay has shown, 

computer technology will not replace traditional human teachers in the foreseeable 

future.

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

57

2.7

H

ow

 

to

 

write

 

a

 

discussion

 

essay

A common exam question type asks the candidate analyse, critique or discuss a 

topic, or to compare or contrast two topics. Such questions typically require parti-

tion in the response, and thus don’t readily fit into the argument essay format. It is in 

these situations that a discussion essay structure is needed.

The first thing to understand is in what circumstances a discussion essay structure 

is required. Recall from section 1.3 that essay questions can be understood by iden-

tifying three things: keywords, qualifying words and action words. To identify what 

type of essay to write, however, the candidate needs only look at the action words. To 

illustrate, review the original model IELTS question from this book: