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To understand this we must look at the question. The question for academic task one is always the same:
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
We therefore need to provide a short summary of the main features. You do this in the overview paragraph by picking
out 3-4 of the most significant things you can see and writing them in general terms. By general, I mean you do
not support anything you see with data from the graph or chart, just write about what you can see visually.
Lets look at an example:
Overall, I notice that there are 7 regions. Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America make up the majority, with North
America being the largest. Africa, India, Latin America and China make up a very small proportion.
We can then include these things in an overview paragraph:
The pie chart is comprised of 7 regions in total with Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America making up the vast
majority of global wealth. North America has the single biggest share and Africa, India, Latin America and China
combined, only make up a small proportion.
As you can see, I have not talked about individual fractions or percentages, in fact I have not supported any of
my features with data. Instead, I have just reported what I can see visually, without looking closely at the data. If you
have to look at the data, then you probably wont write a good overview.
How do I select the correct features?
To understand this we have to think about the different types of graphs and charts we might see. There are generally two
different kinds of charts and graphs: dynamic and static.
Dynamic charts show data over time and static charts show data at just one point in time. This will affect the type of data we
select.
Lets look at a dynamic chart:
As you can see, the graph is dynamic because it shows data over a period of time. We should therefore look at the general
trend over the time period.
First, we should look at what happened from the start (2011) to the end (2014). From the start to the end both lines
increased. Then we should look at any other general trends for each of the two lines. We can see the blue line (women) goes
up until 2013 and then does down a little. The green line (men) goes up slightly and then has a very large increase between
2012 and 2014.
These are the most striking or most obvious things we can see when first looking at the graph and these are perfect for our
overview.
Lets put this information into a sentence:
Over the entire time period the number of men and women reading books increased. Women saw a steady increase
between 2011 and 2013 before declining in 2014, while men increased gradually at first before rocketing up in the last
two years.
When we are looking at dynamic graphs we should be looking out for:
What does the data do from the start to the finish?
Do they generally go up or down or do they fluctuate?
Any significant difference from the general trend?
Overall increase/decrease?
Peaks/lows?
No lets look at a static chart:
This chart is different from the last one because there are no dates to look at; it is data from just one point in time. We can
therefore not talk about general trends over time.
Instead we are more concerned about comparing the data between the different sources. In this case, we will be comparing
the data between countries.
The first thing I notice is that all countries are below 400k except two of them. Switzerland and Australia are the biggest and
Singapore and the U.K. are the smallest. Switzerland has almost double the average. There isnt a significant amount of
difference between the bottom 6 countries.
Lets try and turn the things Ive noticed above into an overview:
The graph compares eight countries with only a small amount of difference between the bottom 6. Australia and
Switzerland have the highest average wealth, with Switzerland averaging nearly double the value of the two bottom
countries.
When we look at static graphs we should be looking for:
What are the highest/lowest values?
What are the most noticeable differences?
Any similarities?
Any significant exceptions?
Is there any special grammar?
You should try and make a complex sentence by making a subordinate clause. Complex sentences are sentences with more
than one clause and they help increase our marks in the grammatical range part of the marking criteria.
You can easily make a subordinate clause structure in the overview by joining two pieces of information with the words
while. although, with, even though, whereas or and. However, make sure you know the meaning of these words and how
they are correctly used in a sentence.
How does an overview fit into the rest of my essay?
The overview should be the second paragraph of a four paragraph structure:
Paragraph 1- Paraphrase Sentence
Paragraph 2- Overview
Paragraph 3- Details
Paragraph 4- Details
I tell my students to write the overview before the details because it makes it clear to the examiner that you have identified
the main features and it also helps you write the details paragraph. In the details paragraphs you will simply take the
statements you made in the overview and support them with data.
Shouldnt I write a conclusion?
No. Conclusions are really a summary of what you think or opinions. This is not an opinion essay and you therefore do not
Paraphrasing is simply re-writing a phrase or sentence so that it has the same meaning, but with different words.
Paraphrasing is one of the most important skills to learn before doing your IELTS test. It is most important for writing and
speaking, but will also help you in the reading and listening tests. In other words, if you know how to paraphrase you are
more likely to get the score you need.
The mental processes required to paraphrase will also help you to fully understand the question and this is one of the
reasons I tell my students to begin all of their answers in the writing test by paraphrasing the question.
Lets look at an example.
Example: Paraphrasing is one of the most important skills to learn before doing your IELTS
test.
Paraphrased: Prior to taking the IELTS test, mastering paraphrasing is one of the most crucial
things to do.
As you can see, the second sentence (paraphrased sentence) uses synonyms to change some vocabulary (e.g., important for
crucial and prior to before and changes the grammar (e.g., Paraphrasing is one of the most important skills for
mastering paraphrasing). You can also change the word order.
These are the three main methods you should use in the IELTS test to paraphrase sentences. Ideally, you should try to use
all three but sometimes two will only be possible.
We will now look at each method in detail and also have a look at the passive.
Method Number 1: Using Synonyms
Synonyms are different words that have the same meaning. For example, humans is a synonym of people and attractive is
a synonym of beautiful. This method simply replaces words with the same meaning in order to produce a new sentence.
For example:
My car needs petrol.