Writing task 2: Lesson 6 - Opinion essay

lOMoARcPSD|36041561 WRITING TASK 2 LESSON 6 Ms. Kim Thanh
thanhkl@gmail.com
Agree and Disagree/Opinion Essay I. Lead-in.
Work in pairs to discuss these questions. Give reasons for your opinions.
1. Look at the three families. In which family do you prefer to live in?
2. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of growing up in each of the families?
3. Which family group is typical in your country?
4. The words in column A are some modern types of families today. Match words from column
A to its definition in column B. A B a) cohabitation
1. families where one of the parents is not the biological
parents of at least one of the children in the household
b) child-free marriages 2. families where both parents work
c) two- career families 3. an unmarried couple living together as if married
d) single- parent families 4. marriage without children
e) stepfamilies 5. families with only father or mother 5. Discussion
Are these types of families becoming more common in your country? What do you think are
the challenges in these family groups? 1
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1. ORGANIZING AND DEVELOPING IDEAS
Study the Writing task 2 below and answer the questions.
a. What overall topic do you have to write about?
b. Which opinion do you have to respond to?
c. How far do you agree or disagree with the opinion?
d. In which case would you include the following response to the task? (When you have no
strong arguments for and against, when you have very strong arguments in favor of the
statement, when you have very strong arguments against the statement) Only arguments for Only arguments against
Arguments both for and against
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task
Write about the following topic.
Modern lifestyles mean that many parents have little time for their children. Many children
suffer because they do not get as much attention from their parents as children did in the past.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant ideas from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words. 2
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2. ANALYZING A SAMPLE ESSAY
a. Read the introduction of the essay and answer the following questions.
1. What is the writer’s opinion? Where does he/ she state his/her opinion?
2. How many points of negative effects is the writer going
to discuss. What are they? How do you know that? Which
expression was used to indicate the points?
3. Does the introduction copy the question? SAMPLE
Some people argue that the pace of modern life means parents are busier now than they have
ever been, thus many parents no longer have enough time to spend at home and take care of
the children, and I agree with this statement. In my opinion, the fact that parents are
working longer hours has, to some extent, brought some negative effects on the children in
terms of health and school performance.
Firstly, it can be argued that parents are working harder and longer and possibly do not talk
with children about diet. Also, growing numbers of mothers entering the workforce spend less
time cooking dinner. Meanwhile, canned foods are popular in supermarkets and such
international fast food restaurants like McDonald’s or KFC are mushrooming, leading to the
change in eating habits in some families. However, eating fast food frequently can cause
obesity in some children and may mean an unbalanced diet, with too much processed and
sweet food. As adults, children may experience health problems like diabetes.
Secondly, lack of parenting support may also have an impact on the children’s school
performance. It is possibly claimed that those children whose parents do not have time to
help them with their homework may suffer academic failure, whereas those who get parental
involvement in their learning process usually have significant improvements in their school
achievements. Take for example one of my cousins aged 10. His grandfather usually helps
him in History, while his father takes care of his English and Mathematics homework. As a
result, his school performance has been much more progress.
In conclusion, I believe that children probably had more problems than those in the past
because their parents are working harder and longer. It is important that a child’s growth
should be associated with parents’ support and involvement. No matter how busy and
hardworking parents are, they should spend time reading books for children before bedtime,
helping them with homework, talking with and listening to children so that they will not have
to suffer development problems.
b. Look at the first paragraph in the body and answer the following questions. 3
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4. Does the first sentence give information about the reason
why children’s health is getting worse?
5. Do the second and third sentences contrast or support
the first sentence? What linking words does the writer use?
6. Do the fourth and fifth sentences mention the effects of
eating fast food as children and adults? Are the effects relevant or irrelevant?
Which “cause and effect” expressions are used?
c. Look at the second paragraph in the body and answer the following questions.
7. Is the second sentence an explanation for the first sentence?
8. Does the paragraph have an example? Is the example relevant or irrelevant?
d. Look at the conclusion and the whole essay and answer the following questions.
9. Does the writer restate his/ her opinion in the conclusion?
10. Does the writer use a range of vocabulary to avoid repitition?
11. Does the writer give relevant reasons and examples to support his/ her arguments?
12. Are there any vocabulary and grammar mistakes?
13. Does the essay answer the TASK 2 question?
14. Has the writer written over 250 words?
III. Useful language: Expressing opinions
Describing your own opinion
Describing other people’s opinions/ 4
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Agreeing with an idea (+ reasons) I am certain that…. It is often said that…. For me it is obvious that …. It is often claimed that …. I am convinced that ….
It has long been my belief that …. It seems apparent that …. I tend to agree…
Scientists are convinced that …
I agree up to a point, but I think that…
Many researchers have found that ….
Disagreeing with an idea (+ reasons) Some people believe that ….
There is no justification for….
I am completely/ strongly against …
X argues/ believes/ claims/ concludes/
confirms/ states/ points out/ insists/ maintains
I believe there is no evidence to support… that + S + V
I do not really agree with the idea that…
I am not really sure about/ that …. Giving an opinion To my mind …. In my opinion/ view…
Personally I think/ suppose/ guess/ doubt ….
I am really against/ in favor of…. I would agree that… I feel strongly that …. It seems to me that …. I would argue that …. No strong opinion
There could be a case for saying that …. It would appear that ….
It is important in an essay to use a range of expressions to describe yours and other’s
opinions. Add the opinion phrases 1-6 to the appropriate category in the language box.
1. It is widely believed that ….
2. I partially support…
3. My personal view is that ….
4. I totally disagree with … 5
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5. It is clearly true that….
6. Many people consider that …. Writing practice
    Task 1
To learn a language successfully, people need to go to the country where the language is
spoken. What is your opinion? Sample:
There are many ways to succeed in learning a foreign language. In my opinion, I strongly
agree that language learners should go to the country of the target language for better study.
Oversea language study brings many benefits to the learners. First of all, learners have
opportunities to communicate with native speakers every day, which will enhance language
skills especially pronunciation, speaking and listening. For example, by talking with shop
assistants, people are practising the language in real life. More important, learners are able to
integrate with cultural activities, traditions and local customs. This makes people have deeper
understanding of the language in use and they can communicate more naturally. Lastly,
studying language in the authentic environment is beneficial spiritually to learners. As
learning is along with doing, people will be more encouraged to further study of the language.
All in all, language learners will achieve high results when studying language in a foreign country.
However, the opponents may argue that oversea courses do not necessarily contribute to
language success. When people stay in their home country, they can still learn language with
native speaking teachers. In addition, there are many excellent teachers and programs that
assist learners to study. Furthermore, as today cities are becoming more international, people
have more opportunities to talk with foreigners. Also, studying abroad may be costly to
learners and a lot of people cannot afford it. Certainly, these are objective reasons. In fact,
language courses and foreigners can not offer as many chances to practise the target language
as when you live in a native speaking country, so the expenditures are worth for advancing learning outcome.
In conclusion, going to the target country to study language is the best way to language
success. I strongly believe that oversea courses are beneficial to learners. As a result, along
with advantageous conditions of language learning today, spending time in a foreign country
where the language is spoken should be encouraged. Task 2 Social networks
Many people today are becoming increasingly addicted to social networks on the Internet
such as facebook and twitter. It is argued that social networks should be banned. To what extent do you agree? 6
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