NOTE: Strong vocabulary for IELTS Task 2 does not mean you go around using rare or obscure words — but rather natural, consistent language that is precise and registers the topic of discussion. The lexical resource criterion rewards vocabulary which is (a) varied (you are not repeating the same words,) (b) precise (you pick the best word that exactly conveys your meaning), and (c) natural sounding—words that a good writer would naturally use in this context rather than words you have forced into your answer solely for their fancy connotation. In fact, using convoluted terminology when simple words communicate a meaning better is penalised.

General vocabulary expansion will slow lexical resource improvement while targeted vocabulary replacement will result in rapid gains. This means that the majority of band 6 candidates already know more vocabulary than they use — in exam conditions, they will naturally gravitate towards words that feel safe and familiar. What you do is find the 5 or 6 words that come up most often in practice essays and prepare specifically three direct alternatives for each. During 4-6 weeks of practice, these alternatives become second nature and begin to emerge spontaneously in exam conditions.

In IELTS essays, the repetition of words is checked under lexical resource – whenever a word appears multiple times to close (especially, in one paragraph), the examiner records it. Here are the 5 most repeated words in IELTS Task 2 essays: 'people' (common collocates: individuals, society, the public, communities), 'government' (common collocates: authorities, policymakers, officials), 'important' (common collocates: significant, crucial, vital essential), 'negative' (common collocates: detrimental harmful adverse),' and increase generic use; common collocates rise', grow', escalate', surge.

Functional phrase banks transfer across any essay topic, which is why they are more useful than just a bank of topic word. Do you notice that: 1# «The major advantage of this trend is that…» AND #2 — with regard to technology/education/environment related section, work alike? You also need some task-specific vocabulary — but a well-developed phrase bank in the above areas means that your ability to formulate argumentative structure, signal position and introduce examples will always be at full strength regardless of which topic appears on test day.

IELTS academic vocabulary isn't about using uncommon, low-frequency terms — it is appropriate to write formal written English rather than spoken or conversational English. The register must sound similar to a well-crafted newspaper opinion or a formal report: clear, concise, impersonal when necessary. Nominalisation (turning verbs into nouns: 'develop → development', 'apply → application', 'achieve → achievement') is one of the most powerful single methods for raising the academic level of an IELTS essay.

LEXICAL RESOURCE Criterion Does Not Involve Quantity of Vocabulary; It Is a Matter of Quality in Your Lexical Resource. A band 6 lexical resource essay has enough vocabulary to get the message across, but there is considerable repetition, imprecise use of words or noticeable errors in spelling and/or word formation. More awkward sentences; less variety at lower levels of language. Band 7 – Lexical resource- Uses a sufficient range of vocabulary to allow some flexibility and precision. Uses less common items with some awareness of the style. Produces errors in spelling and/or word formation, but they rarely impede communication. The shift from band 6 to band 7 shows more precision, collocations — not just a higher number of paraphrased words.

The collocation accuracy is one of the most explicit indicators of lexical competence in IELTS. If you are a native speaker or an advanced writer, the combinations of words such as 'make a decision' not 'do a decision,' 'take responsibility' not 'make responsibility,' and others will come naturally to you. The most well-grounded and resource-efficient path for non-native speakers to improve lexical resource scores is learning collocations as fixed phrases (as opposed to replacing individual words); An examiner will notice errors in a collocation right away, even if other words are appropriate..

In IELTS Task 2, opinion phrases have two purposes: They show the examiner your position (task response) and they are a range of discourse vocabulary (lexical resource). Repeated use of 'I think' across an essay indicates poor lexical range. Another way to use band 7 lexical resource rewarded vocabulary range while clearer stating your position with more confidence through out the essay varies from 'From my point of view,' 'In my opinion' and 'I believe that'.

March 12, 2018 The band 6 to band 7 vocabulary gap is mostly written as a precision and collocation gap — not an knowledge gap. Of course, most band 6 candidates can actually recall the words 'detrimental,' 'beneficial,' and 'considerable' but when under exam pressure they go for safer, more automatic choices like 'bad', and 'good', and big. Where this prep solution — a simulated release of tension caused by the impending deadlines — is deliberate practice: write five practice essays directed toward picking these five substitutions specifically, until the exact substitutes flow off you with the same ease and naturalness as simple words. In fact, this can be practiced consistently for a couple of weeks (not months).

The formal register that IELTS Task 2 requires covers every level of language including vocabulary, sentence structure and even punctuation. Several informal register signals that examiners see immediately are: contractions (never use in Task 2), phrasal verbs in formal contexts ('come up with' → 'develop'), vague nouns ('things,' 'stuff,' 'a lot') and casual connectors such as ('So', 'Anyway', etc. One of the quickest and most demonstrable types of vocabulary improvement a candidate can make is to substitute some common informal words with their formal equivalents.