Some children spend hours every day on smartphones. Why is this the case? Do you think this is a positive or negative development?
Sample Essay with Corrections
Expert Feedback
The essay demonstrates a clear understanding of the task and presents a coherent argument regarding the negative impact of smartphone usage among children. Key strengths of the essay include a clear opinion stated in the introduction and a logical structure with distinct paragraphs. The writer effectively identifies reasons for smartphone usage and discusses the consequences, which aligns with the task requirements. Critical areas for improvement include enhancing the depth of the argument by providing specific examples or statistics to support claims. Additionally, the use of cohesive devices could be improved to create smoother transitions between ideas. The vocabulary could be more varied to avoid repetition and inaccuracies, and grammatical accuracy needs attention, particularly with subject-verb agreement and punctuation. Structural changes made include correcting grammatical errors, improving coherence with better transitions, and enhancing vocabulary for clarity and sophistication. Suggestions for further improvements not implemented in the corrected version include incorporating specific examples or studies to support claims and varying sentence structures to enhance the overall complexity of the writing. The tone used is appropriate for an academic essay, maintaining a formal and objective stance throughout.
Detailed Scores
What this means:
The essay has a logical structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, the flow of ideas could be improved with better use of cohesive devices. For instance, transitions between sentences and paragraphs could be smoother. Using phrases like 'Furthermore' or 'In addition' would enhance the coherence of the argument.
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 contains several grammatical errors, such as subject-verb agreement ('childrens are spend' should be 'children spend') and incorrect use of articles ('a bad development' instead of 'bad development'). There are also issues with punctuation and capitalization (e.g., 'i' should be 'I'). While the meaning is generally clear, improving grammatical accuracy and range would significantly enhance the writing.
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 generally appropriate, but there are instances of repetition (e.g., 'children', 'phones') and some inaccuracies (e.g., 'childrens' should be 'children's'). The use of more varied and sophisticated vocabulary would enhance the essay. For example, instead of 'interesting things', the writer could use 'engaging content' or 'entertaining applications'.
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 task by discussing reasons why children spend time on smartphones and presents a clear opinion that this is a negative development. However, the development of ideas could be more thorough, with more specific examples and a deeper exploration of the consequences. For improvement, the writer could include statistics or studies to support their claims.
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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