How to talk about cause and effect

In the IELTS Writing test, you need to think critically and talk about the causes of various problems plus the effects that they are having.

This lesson will help you use academic language from Reading texts in your Task 2 essays.

How to improve your IELTS writing by Reading

This newspaper article (Should public transport be free?) displays a number of features which can help you make your writing more formal (scroll down to find a list of ’cause and effect’ collocations’).

Keep a note of these features as you’re reading, and it will help you to use this formal, discursive style in your IELTS Writing Task 2.

1. The Language of cause and effect

It ‘fosters + noun’
It ‘encourages people to + verb’
‘It benefits those on low incomes’
‘It eases traffic’
‘It reduces air pollution’
‘It boosts the economy’

Scroll down for a full list.

2. The Language of EMPHASIS

‘It was walkers who got on the buses’ (compare ‘Walkers got on the buses’)

3. NOUN forms (nominalisation)

‘Making it easy to move around fosters commercial activity‘.
‘car use dropped/public transport use increased’

4. ARTICLES

‘the old, the young, the unemployed’ (this is more formal/academic than saying ‘old people, young people, unemployed people’)

5. The language of change

‘marginally decreased’
‘increased dramatically’
‘dropped by a staggering 40%’

6. Linking words

‘While car use decreased, distance travelled went up’
‘as well as those on a low income’

7. Present Participle (-ing) linking words

‘Free public transport should encourage people to leave their cars at home, easing traffic congestion and reducing air pollution’.

8. Formal, academic language:

‘However, there is no indication that employment opportunities improved as a result, according to the study‘.

Click to see the full sentences

Here are the exact phrases taken from the text:

‘it’s good for cities because MAKING it easy for people to move around FOSTERS commercial activity.’

‘it also ENCOURAGES higher income groups to spend money in local restaurants, cafes and shops.’

‘it didn’t really ENCOURAGE many people to stop driving.’

‘IT WAS walkers WHO hopped on buses, as the number of trips made on foot DROPPED by a STAGGERING 40%.’

‘WHILE the share of car use MARGINALLY decreased, the average distance travelled by car actually went up.’

‘Public transport use increased dramatically AMONG the old and the young, and those on a very low income, AS WELL AS those out of employment and education.

‘However, there is no indication that employment opportunities improved as a result, according to the study.’

The Language of Cause and Effect

I’m keeping a list of expressions/collocations that I found in newspaper articles that could help in Task 2 Writing.

Please do let me know if you find any that I can add to the list.

It builds/sustains/maintains (relationships)
It liberates/empowers (women)
It hinders/impedes (progress)
It hampers/obstructs (development)
It limits/restricts (freedom)
It reduces (habitat loss)
It accelerates/reverses (global warming).
It minimises/eliminates/eradicates (human error)
It eases (tension),
It stifles (creativity).
It ensures (equal opportunities).
It maintains (harmony).
It encourages/promotes (diversity)
It stimulates (growth/the economy)
It generates (income)
It facilitates (learning).
It triggers (unrest/a recession).
It sours (relations between countries)
It strengthened (food production)
It raises incomes (yes it was plural where I saw it! Normally it’s uncountable/singular)
It perpetuates the myth/stereotypes
It prolongs the agony.
It delays the inevitable/ the onset of Alzheimer’s
It provokes a response.
It instils values in children
(School uniforms) instil discipline, a sense of self-worth and equality ….but the evidence that they help foster equality is not so clear-cut.
To address/alleviate poverty
To ensure sufficient food for all

In this 2-minute YouTube clip you can see me talking about another online article about the Pros and Cons of Strict Work Dress Codes which focuses on EFFECTS.

The full 10-minute video below will help you use a variety of collocations to describe the precise effects/consequences of an action.