Rhetorical steps of IELTS essay writings band 7
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53696/27753719.62591Keywords:
Band seven, IELTS essay writings, length of each rhetorical step, rhetorical guides, rhetorical stepsAbstract
Studies on rhetorical structures within academic texts have become a growing trend in applied linguistic studies. However, studies on this area within the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) are still undeveloped, while understanding their rhetorical structures may help those intending to take IELTS tests. Understanding this need has encouraged me to execute this study, by focusing on analyzing an essay writing part. To do so, this study used a genre approach for analyzing 20 IELTS essay writings band seven because this band is considered acceptable both in national and international universities. A top-down approach was also employed to find their rhetorical steps. The results showed that test takers accepting band seven employed five rhetorical steps. Then, the length of each rhetorical step seems different from one to another. The findings were then used to design a rhetorical guide for writing an essay for IELTS. These findings imply that writing an essay to reach band seven in the IELTS test better requires understanding these rhetorical steps. By understanding these steps, test takers may more easily develop and organize their ideas when writing their essays.
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