IELTS Essay Bank · Task 2 Academic · Two-part question
Disappearing Minority Languages: Band 6 Sample Essay
294 words · Topic: Globalisation, Culture & arts ·
The question
Every year, a number of the world's smaller languages stop being spoken as their last remaining speakers pass away.
Why are so many minority languages dying out? Do you think efforts should be made to keep them alive?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
Band 6 sample essay
Highlighted = useful vocabularyToday, many small languages are disappearing because the old people who speak them are dying. This essay will explain the reasons for this problem and give my opinion about saving these languages.
There are several reasons why minority languages are dying out. The main reason is globalisation. Nowadays english and other big languages are used in business, internet and television, so young people think that their native language is not useful. For example, in my country many young people in the countryside prefer to speak the national language or English because it help them to find a job in the city. Another reason is education. In most schools lessons are taught only in the official language, so children don't have the chance to practise the language of their grandparents. As a result, when the parents also stop to speak it at home and do not pass it on to their children, the language is lost after one or two generation.
In my opinion, efforts should be made to keep these languages alive. A language is not only a way of communication, it is also a part of the culture and identity of a people. When a language die, many stories, songs and traditional knowledges disappear with it. For instance, some languages have special words for plants and medicine which does not exist in other languages.
However, it is not easy to protect them. The government can teach them in schools and make TV programmes in minority languages, but if young people are not interested, it will not work.
In conclusion, minority languages are dying because of globalisation and education, and I think we should try to save them because they are important for culture. But it is difficult and it depends on the people.
Word count: 294
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Why this is Band 6: criterion by criterion
Task Response
Band 6Both questions are addressed and the writer's view is clear ("efforts should be made to keep these languages alive"). However, the two parts are not treated equally: the causes are explained with two reasons and an example, while the second question receives one short paragraph of justification and a very brief mention of solutions. The idea about special words for plants and medicine is relevant but not explained, and the final sentence ("it depends on the people") leaves the conclusion unclear. Addressing all parts with some more fully than others is typical of Band 6.
Coherence and Cohesion
Band 6The essay is organised logically, with one paragraph for causes and one for the writer's opinion, so there is a clear overall progression. The introduction relies on a formula ("This essay will explain…"), and several linkers are mechanical ("The main reason is…", "Another reason is…", "As a result", "In conclusion"). Referencing is not always clear: in "if young people are not interested, it will not work", the reader must guess what "it" refers to. The short fourth paragraph also reads like an afterthought rather than a developed stage of the argument, which keeps cohesion at Band 6.
Lexical Resource
Band 6The vocabulary is adequate for the topic, with some suitable items such as "native language", "official language" and "culture and identity". However, there is noticeable repetition of "language", "young people" and "reason", and some word choices are imprecise: "big languages" (major or dominant languages) and "a way of communication" (a means of communication). There are also errors in spelling and word form — "english" should be capitalised and "traditional knowledges" should be the uncountable traditional knowledge — but they do not prevent understanding, so Band 6 is fair.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Band 6The writer uses a mix of simple and complex sentences, including relative clauses ("the old people who speak them") and a conditional ("if young people are not interested…"). There are regular errors, however: subject–verb agreement ("it help them", "a language die", "words … which does not exist"), a verb pattern error ("stop to speak it" for stop speaking it), a plural error ("one or two generation"), a missing article ("business, internet and television" needs the internet) and a comma splice ("…a way of communication, it is also…"). Because these errors rarely reduce communication, Band 6 is appropriate.
Useful vocabulary and collocations
- native language
- correct term; at Band 7+ you could also use mother tongue or heritage language.
- official language
- accurate term for the language used by the state and schools.
- pass it on
- natural phrasal verb for handing something to the next generation; intergenerational transmission is the academic equivalent.
- culture and identity
- useful pairing; strengthen it with a sense of cultural identity.
How this essay could reach Band 7
- 1Develop the second question as fully as the first: give one clear reason why keeping languages alive matters, explain it, and support it with a real example of a language that has been successfully protected.
- 2End with a definite conclusion that restates your view, instead of "it depends on the people", and remove the formula "This essay will explain…".
- 3Fix the recurring grammar points — it helps, a language dies, stop speaking, two generations — and replace vague words like "big languages" with precise ones such as dominant languages.
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