IELTS Essay about Online and Printed Reading Material for Children
Some people believe online reading materials should only be used for a child to learn to read whereas others believe only printed material should be used. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
Band 9 essay sample
There are various opinions on how young children should be taught to read. Some people opine that they should only use online reading material. Others oppose that view and insist that only printed books and other learning material should be used. In my opinion, children benefit the most when they have access to both printed and non-print material.
Some people prefer online reading material because they are readily available. These are lots of websites that cater to young learners. Most of these websites offer free learning material that children can access anytime from anywhere. Also, websites have additional functionalities built into them. As children learn they will invariably come across words that are unfamiliar to them. To make learning easier, most websites have links to dictionaries. This allows the student to look any word pretty easily. In addition, the difficulty level of online reading material can be adjusted to suit the reading ability of the student. As the student makes progress, parents or teachers can choose more advanced material for them. It is also possible to enlarge the font size to make learning easier for young children.
On the other hand, printed material such as books has their own inherent advantages too. First, children love holding books in their hand. They also enjoy scribbling on the pages. They cannot do this with online learning material. Also, children do not need any special equipment to read when they use books. Better still, books do not cause eye strain. Young children do not have fully developed bodies. Their eyesight is not fully developed. If they stare at a computer or phone for long hours, they will develop vision problems as well as stiff neck and sore back. Worse still, when children spend a lot of time online, they may stumble upon material inappropriate for them. For this reason, parents or teachers must constantly monitor the online activities of their children. By contrast, books are safe and children can be left alone with them.
To conclude, both online and printed reading materials have their own advantages. In this age of technology, it is foolish to shun online materials altogether. At the same time, it is not wise to ignore books either. Hence, in my opinion, parents should give their children access to both printed and non-print materials. This way, they can benefit from the best of both methods.
Analysis
The writer has expressed a clear opinion and defended it with valid arguments. Benefits of both printed and online reading materials are explained. The writer encourages the use of both types of reading materials. Hence, the essay does not claim that one type of material is better than the other or vice-versa.
The essay is neatly divided into four paragraphs. Cohesive elements are effectively used. The writer has also demonstrated their grammatical range by using a variety of sentence patterns correctly. The range of vocabulary used is also adequate.
Overall, this seems to be a band 9 essay.
