Children are now less active in their free time than in the past. Therefore, sports lessons must be compulsory in schools. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Sample Essay with Corrections
Expert Feedback
The essay effectively addresses the prompt, presenting a clear position in favour of compulsory sports lessons in schools. Key strengths include relevant arguments supported by personal experiences, which enhance the response. However, critical areas for improvement include a more balanced discussion that acknowledges counterarguments in greater depth, as well as smoother transitions between points. Structural changes made include correcting grammatical errors, enhancing clarity, and improving the overall flow of ideas. Suggestions for further improvements not implemented in the corrected version include varying vocabulary to reduce repetition and incorporating more sophisticated phrases to elevate the tone. The tone used is appropriate for an academic essay, maintaining a formal and persuasive style throughout.
Detailed Scores
What this means:
The essay is generally well-organized, with a logical flow of ideas. Each paragraph presents a distinct point, and there are some cohesive devices used to link ideas. However, transitions between some points could be smoother, and the overall structure could be improved by clearly delineating the counterargument section.
How to improve:
- Use a clear paragraph structure
- Connect ideas with appropriate linking words
- Maintain logical progression
- Use referencing effectively
What this means:
The essay demonstrates a reasonable range of grammatical structures, but there are several grammatical errors, such as 'when I was young student' (should be 'a young student') and 'this make them very inactive' (should be 'makes'). These errors affect clarity and accuracy. More complex sentence structures could also be employed to showcase a higher level of grammatical proficiency.
How to improve:
- Use complex sentence structures
- Maintain grammatical accuracy
- Use a variety of sentence patterns
- Check for common grammar errors
What this means:
The vocabulary used is appropriate and varied, with phrases like 'mandatory', 'inactive', and 'social skills' demonstrating a good range. However, there are instances of repetition, such as the word 'students' and 'sports classes', which could be replaced with synonyms to enhance lexical variety. Additionally, some phrases could be more sophisticated to elevate the overall tone.
How to improve:
- Use a wider range of vocabulary
- Demonstrate awareness of collocations
- Avoid word repetition
- Use more sophisticated vocabulary accurately
What this means:
The essay addresses the prompt effectively, presenting a clear position in favor of compulsory sports lessons in schools. The arguments are relevant and supported by personal experiences, which enhances the response. However, the essay could benefit from a more balanced discussion by acknowledging counterarguments in greater depth, which would strengthen the overall argument.
How to improve:
- Address all parts of the task fully
- Support ideas with specific examples
- Develop each point thoroughly
- Stay relevant to the topic
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