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ESL forum >
Ask for help > IELTS Question
IELTS Question
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Kempyx
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IELTS Question
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Hello everyone, What �s your opinion on the use of brackets () in the IELTS writing task 1? It �s often convenient to use brackets to include some numbers in your essay, but I �m not sure if the examiners penalise students for excessive use. For example: "an
overwhelming majority of skilled vocational diplomas are held by men (90%),
while only 10% are held by women. Males also hold a higher proportion of
postgraduate diplomas (70%-30%) and master �s degrees (60%-40%), while females hold more bachelor �s degrees (55%-45%)." Would this be an acceptable sentence for IELTS writing? Thanks! |
7 Dec 2014
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Gi2gi
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Why should there be a penalty? The use is preferable in those cases, and there seems to be no deviation from stylistics. A language, either written or oral should serve the purpose to express the train of thought as effectively as it can. |
7 Dec 2014
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cunliffe
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I agree with Gi2gi. This kind of thing is pernicious. I �ve heard of brilliant kids in English language GCSEs getting poor marks because they didn �t answer the questions �in the right way. � |
7 Dec 2014
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joannajs
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As you know who (which I can �t state for Cambridge reasons) you �d better express these numbers exactly through saying like the possible candidate did ("overwhelming majority", "higher proportion" and the like). The percentages in the essay are only provided to check if a person knows a variety of these, and as always, it �s best to lift as few of any expressions from the original as possible :-) |
7 Dec 2014
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PhilipR
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What you give as an example would not be considered very good IELTS language. First of all, when expressing numbers, the lower one should come first (e.g. 45%-55%).
Second, the IELTS task 1 expects you to be able to paraphrase numbers, for example 45-55% could be expressed as �about half �, 48% is just under half, 70% could be just over two thirds etc.
There is no reason to both paraphrase, and give the numbers between brackets. Your �overwhelming majority � could be called nine out of ten, which would be better than including the numbers. |
7 Dec 2014
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