Writing IELTS: The Application of Brainstorming

In writing IELTS, your ability in utilizing standard written English,
organizing and explaining your thoughts, plus supporting those thoughts
with reasons and examples will be scored.

One thing that you can
apply to help you completing two tasks in writing section is
brainstorming. What is brainstorming? Alex Osborn states that
“brainstorming is a conference technique by which a group attempts to
find a solution for a specific problem by amassing all the ideas
spontaneously by its members.” Another definition which is simpler
explains that brainstorming is a process for generating new ideas.

Brainstorming itself is divided into two:
1. Traditional brainstorming
The common form used in this kind of brainstorming is in group form.
There is a group of people sitting together. They give their idea on the
motion given to them. They are free in giving their idea because the
ideas will not be judged. This discussion is aimed at gaining as many
ideas as possible for later analysis. As the form of the discussion is
less formal, the session might result some radical new ideas.

2. Advanced brainstorming
The development of brainstorming technique creates this kind of
brainstorming. This type of brainstorming combines the use of new
technologies. There are some people who claim that this kind of
brainstorming is more effective than the traditional one.

In the
application of brainstorming in writing section, you can do both types
above. For individual exercise, you can get help from brainstorming
software that is offered from advanced type. On the other hand, when you
have a partner, then you can train your brainstorming skill with your
partner.

Brainstorming itself is very beneficial in IELTS because
it can help you to collect some ideas in a quite short time. Allocate
for about 3-5 minutes to do this step. You should write down the ideas
that you might have on the topic or visual information given. In this
stage, you should make everything goes down. You can use the scratch
paper provided to write down all idea that you have, no matter how good
it is. If you can type fast, you could use word processor instead of
paper. Later, you just need to pick the good ideas from all ideas that
you have written down.

Reference: IELTS Secrets, copyright 2002 by MO Media, http://www.brainstorming.co.uk/tutorials/whatisbrainstorming.html