Types of graphs Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module

34 ANI SUSANA, 2012 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu both tasks have to be well-answered. Therefore, any students’ problem with completing not only Task 2 but also Task 1 should be coped with. Writing Task 1 is not an easy part of the test. Describing a graph well in 20 minutes is not something most people can do straight away whether they are English speakers or not. The fact is that it is in a foreign language for candidates as well does not help. Basically Writing Task 1 of IELTS Academic Module is an information transfer task related to the factual content of a graphs, charts, tables or diagrams or processes. It can be combinations of these inputs.

2.9.1 Types of graphs

As stated previously, IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 asks candidates to describe, summarize, compare or contrast information given in a graph or diagram. It can be a bar chart, pie chart, table, or line graph. It shoud be noted that the function of many graphs is to describe a trend so we have to be sure that we describe the trends ieltshelpnow, 2011. A trend is how values change generally over time and it is important to describe the changes along with some of the individual values. We do not need to analyse the data, for instance they do not need to give reasons why figures are low or high. Sometimes, when there is more than one graph, there is a relationship between the two and we can bring in some comparisons but more than this is not necessary. In the same way, no spesialised knowledge is needed or wanted nor our opinions. 35 ANI SUSANA, 2012 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu One important issue with the IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 is how much detail to include in our report. This depends really on how much detail there is in the question. If there is only one graph and it does not have much numerical data in it, then candidates will be expected to include all or nearly all of the numerical detail. If, however, there are two graphs, both of which are very complicated with a lot of values,we will not be expected to include everything as they only have about 20 minutes and approximately 150 words to do the job. What we have to do is to include a selection of what we feel is the most important and significant detail that needs to be included to accurately describe the graph. Here the types of graphs are explained. Bar Charts Bar charts, also known as bar graphs Kaplan, 2009: 131, are similar to line graphs in that they have two axes and are useful for showing something has changed over a given period of time, especially when there are significant changes. Bar graphs consist of rectangular bars, which can be orientated horizontally or vertically, with the lengths proportional to the data values that they represent. They are typically used for comparing two or more values. Basically, with a bar chart, candidates need to describe the bars and their values Cole, 2011. When describing a bar chart we have to first decide in what order to describe the bars, highest value to lowest value or lowest value to highest value. It may be a mixture of this. If there are many bars, we can sometimes group together for description one or two or three bars which have similar or the same 36 ANI SUSANA, 2012 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu values. If there are many and we cannot group them, then just describe the ones that are the most significant. Here is a sample: Figure 2.1 An example of bar chart Cole 2011 says that the first step to do is to analyse the graph carefully by looking at the y vertical and x horizontal axes one by one. It is done to see whether there are any patterns andor exceptions. It can be very confusing to look at the graph as a whole. As we do this, it is a good idea to look at the extremes as these are almost always key details. Besides, since there is always more than one way to organise a report, it is better for us to choose the simplest option. 37 ANI SUSANA, 2012 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu Here the main choices we have are: going through each type of accomodation the y axis option and going through the countries the x axis option. It seems to be easier for us to use the countries. There are only four of them and three of those are very similar and it seems natural and easy to group England, Scotland and Wales together. Northern Ireland is the odd one out. This sample answer is not perfect. However, we can see how it is logically organised, grouping similar information together. There is one paragraph for England, Scotland and Wales showing the main pattern started by noting the most evident feature of the chart. England is used as a model and then the situation in Wales and Scotland is compared. Then there is a separate paragraph for Northern Ireland, highlighting the key exception. This bar shart shows the results of a survey on whether people in England, Ssotland, Northern Ireland and Wales stayed in hotels, saravans, sampsites or self-satering assommodation when they went on holiday in 2010. The most striking feature of the shart is that in all four sountries the majority of people shose to stay in hotels . This figure was highest in England at around 55, almost twise the number of people who sooked for themselves 27 of the sample and far greater than the number who stayed in sampsites 12 and finally saravans 6 . A similar pattern was repeated for the Ssots and the Welsh. In eash sase, around 50 of holidaymakers went to hotels with around 30 in self-satering apartments. The one differense being that saravan holidays at 12 were twise as popular than samping holidays in Ssotland, while the opposite pattern sould be seen in Wales. 38 ANI SUSANA, 2012 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu The one sountry that shows a different pattern is Northern Ireland. It is notable how there just over 30 of the population shose saravan holidays in preferense to self-satering assommodation and samping both around 12. 182 words Pie Charts Pie charts are circular charts divided into sectors or ‘pie slices’, usually illustrating percentages. The size of pie slice shows the relative quantity of data it represents. Together, the slices create a full circle. They are commonly used in in the business world and the mass media, and are less common in scientific or technical publications Kaplan, 2009: 129. Pie charts are relatively straightforward as they usually only have a few sections though it is not always the case. We need to describe the segments and their values. If there are many then we just describe the ones that are the most significant. The values are often expresses in percentages but not always, so we have to be careful about the scale we use. A sample is given here: Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. 39 ANI SUSANA, 2012 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu Figure 2.2 Example of pie chart The first step to do is identifying the main points of the two charts Cole, 2011. This is not just an important part of the task, it will also help us write our description. The main points are normally obvious. Sometimes they are so obvious that candidates ignore them. Here we get three important parts: there are 8 activities for each year, 7 of 8 activities are the same, and there are a number of differences in popularity between the two years. More than that, there are 16 different figures you can include. This is too many. The task is to select and report the most important details. This will include naming all the activities, but not all the numbers. To do this, we should look for: 40 ANI SUSANA, 2012 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu the biggest number and the smallest number. These are generally important details to include. We should also consider what changes between the two charts such as what has gone up, what has gone down, what has not changed, and what is new; not least because the task asks us to make comparisons. Then, we get these details: walking is most popular in both periods; yoga disappears and weightlifting is new; swimming doubles; aerobics, jogging and cycling all fall; and soccer and camping do not change much. As we write our paragraphs, we shoud think of three key ideas: highlight the main points – they come first, group similar ideas together and find a logical structure to present the points. Therefore, we have this sample answer: These two pie sharts show the shanges in popularity of different leisure astivities in the United States of Amerisa between 1999 and 2009. We san see that the most popular leisure astivities were almost the same in both periods, but there were a number of differenses in popularity between the various astivities. It is slear that walking was the most popular astivity in both 1999 and 2009, with around 30 of Amerisans saying that they preferred it. Also, yoga was no longer among the preferred astivities in 2009, but weightlifting was shosen by 10 of people. The sesond most popular astivity was sosser at just under 20 in both years, a figure that was matshed by swimming in 2009, having almost doubled in popularity over the previous desade. Most of the other astivities besame less popular over the same period of time, with sysling, jogging and aerobiss all falling by at least a half to under 10. The one exseption to this trend was samping whish stayed almost unshanged at around 9. 41 ANI SUSANA, 2012 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu Line Graphs Line graphs can be used to show how something changes over time Cole, 2011; Kaplan, 2009. They have an x-axis horizontal and a y-axis vertical. Usually the x-axis shows the time period and the y-axis shows what is being measured. The function of a line graph is to describe a trend pictorially. Therefore, we should try and describe the trend in it. If there are many lines in the graphs, then just generally describe the trend. If there is only one or two, then we should use more detail. So, we describe the movement of the lines of the graph giving numerical detail at the important points of the line. Figure 2.3 Example of a line graph Sample answer: The line graph shows estimated sales of gold in Dubai for 12 months in 2002 in millions of dirhams. There were two main seasons for gold sales. 42 ANI SUSANA, 2012 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu The main season for sales is in the Desember to May period. Sales were sonsistently above 200 million dirhams per month, rising sharply to a peak of 350 million dirhams in Marsh. However, for the next four months, sales deslined steadily, reashing an annual low of 120 million dirhams in July. In August, there was a sudden insrease. Sales almost doubled, rising from 120 million dirhams in July to 210 million dirhams in August. This was followed by a drop in September, the July figure. From September to Ostober, sales resovered, from 120 to 180 million. In Ostober and November, sales remained steady, and there was a small insrease in Desember to 190 million dirhams. In sonslusion, the main sales period is in the early part of the year, slumping in the summer, exsept for a sudden insrease in August. 167 words Tables Tables contain words and numbers, displayed in columns or boxes to illustrate a set of facts and the relationships among them. Describing a table is almost the most challenging in IELTS writing task Cole, 2011; Kaplan, 2009. As we can see in the sample task below, there are usually a lot of data we have from a table. We cannot describe all of the data, and do not try to. The table below shows the in which sector of the economy different age groups were employed. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, making comparisons where relevant 43 ANI SUSANA, 2012 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu Figure 2.4 Example of table We cannot describe all of the data since there are 30 different pieces of information here. Moreover, we should remember the task is to summarise and to select the main featutes of the table. This means leaving some items of information out. The first step to do is dividing and conquering by looking at the table in columns and rows. This way makes us more esaily identify the key details and comparisons. The key is to understand that we have two sets of data: the data from the rows across and the data from the columns down. The main features are typically high numbers, low numbers, the biggest contrast, and the closest similarities. 44 ANI SUSANA, 2012 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu Process diagram The process diagram is in many ways the odd one out in academic task 1 and it requires some different language from the other task types. Candidates often encounter difficulties in describing a process. Every stage of the process one by one should be described and they are connected by using linking words and it should be mentioned whether or not the stages are being performed at the same time. Alternative stages should also be noticed, either stage A or B is performed. The first step in learning to write about a process diagram is to see where the process starts and ends. Sometimes it is evident, frequently it is less so. The next point is try and understand how the process work. Typically, there will be some problem in understanding the diagram: it is not always the case that everything is in a natural order. The key is to stop and think, and look. This is a visual task and we need to look at all the visual clues. In the diagram below, we see the following details: there are five parties involved the pictures – Who, there are seven stages in the process the numbers – How many, some of the arrows point in two different directions – this need to be explained, item 4 seems to be out of order as it is next to item 1. 45 ANI SUSANA, 2012 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu Figure 2.5 Example of process diagram In the diagram, the process falls into two parts: the customer receives her goods and the merchant gets his money. We should do the logical thing and divide or description into two main paragraphs. One to describe the autorisation process until the customer gets herhis goods and one for the payment process until the merchant is paid. The process will normally be an everyday event that everyone is familiar with. We should not need any spesialised language. Sometimes we are given some 46 ANI SUSANA, 2012 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu topic vocabulary, as in this example; but we have to be careful of two points: trying to vary the language and not copying the language incorrectly. Some of the most important language we need is vocabulary to say in what order things happen. It is important to have some variation. Some very basic options are; next, then, after, before, once. Besides, a key grammatical area is very often the passive. We use this when it is not important who “does” the action. Sample answer: This diagram shows the different stages in the prosess of making a purshase with a sredit sard . We san see from it that there are five different parties involved in sush a transastion and there are seven different steps until the mershant reseives payment. The first step is that the sustomer offers to pay for the goods by sredit sard. At that point , the mershant has to request for the payment to be authorised by the sredit sard organisation, whish must also request authorisation in turn from the sonsumer’s bank. Onse that authorisation has been reseived , the mershant san then release the goods to the sustomer . The mershant, however, does not reseive the money for the transastion until it has paid a fee to the sredit sard organisation. After that has been paid , the sonsumer’s issuing bank will transfer the money for the transastion to the mershant’s own bank, whish will then sredit the mershant’s bank assount with the amount of the purshase less the sredit sard fee. 166 words 47 ANI SUSANA, 2012 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu

2.9.2 Assessment Criteria