Globalisation · Two-part direct question · Band 7
English as the Global Language: Benefits and Concerns
The question, a model answer written to the band 7 descriptors, why it scores that band against the 4 official criteria, topic vocabulary, and a common mistake to avoid.
Two-part direct question
English has become the dominant language of international business, science, and travel. What benefits does this bring, and what concerns does it raise for countries where English is not the native language? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
Model answer (band 7)
Written to the band 7 descriptors, not by a real examiner. Read it for structure and language, then write your own in your own words. Examiners can tell a memorised essay from an original one.
The dominance of English as a global lingua franca brings genuine practical benefits for international cooperation, while simultaneously raising legitimate concerns for countries and individuals whose native language is something else entirely.
The benefits are substantial and well documented. A shared common language dramatically reduces the friction involved in international business negotiations, scientific collaboration, and travel, allowing people from entirely different linguistic backgrounds to communicate directly without relying on translation at every step. Scientific research, in particular, benefits enormously from a single dominant publishing language, since findings can spread and be built upon globally far more quickly than if research were fragmented across dozens of separate linguistic research communities operating largely in isolation from one another.
However, this dominance raises real concerns. Non-native speakers often face a genuine competitive disadvantage in international settings, since communicating complex ideas accurately in a second language typically demands considerably more cognitive effort than doing so in one's native tongue, even for highly fluent speakers, which can affect how confident, articulate, or competent someone appears regardless of their actual underlying expertise. There are also broader cultural concerns, since English's dominance in global media and business can gradually erode the practical relevance and continued everyday use of other languages, particularly in professional and academic contexts, potentially accelerating the decline of linguistic diversity over time.
In my view, these concerns do not outweigh English's practical benefits for international cooperation, but they do justify active, deliberate support for multilingual education and genuine translation access, ensuring opportunity is not unfairly determined by someone's first language alone.
In conclusion, English's global dominance offers clear practical benefits, but addressing the real disadvantages it creates for non-native speakers remains an important, ongoing policy concern.
Why this answer scores band 7
Mapped to the 4 official IELTS Writing criteria.
- Task Response: both parts of the question (benefits and concerns) are addressed explicitly with equal, well-developed depth and specific reasoning.
- Coherence and Cohesion: clear benefit-then-concern structure with a concluding opinion that directly addresses the tension between the two without avoiding it.
- Lexical Resource: precise vocabulary ('lingua franca', 'linguistic diversity', 'cognitive effort') used accurately and with genuine command of the topic.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy: sustained complex sentence structures, including comparative and concessive clauses, with very few errors throughout.
Useful vocabulary & collocations
Phrases used in the model answer that lift Lexical Resource naturally.
Common mistake on this type of question
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