How to write Process (Diagram) in IELTS Writing Task 1 from A - Z

Similar to the Map format, the Process format is quite rare in the IELTS exam and therefore also confusing for many candidates. Therefore, many IELTS reviewers are still learning how to write Diagram Process IELTS to get high scores. Understanding that, the following article of DOL will analyze the most common mistakes candidates make in Process IELTS Writing Task 1 as well as how to fix these errors. At the end of the article, you will be provided with a "super huge" sample stock for reference and practice.

1. Identify Process type in IELTS Writing Task 1 

IELTS Process or IELTS Diagram (IELTS Diagram) is a type of test that is represented by an arrow diagram. Candidates will be required to write a minimum of 150 words for their presentation.

IELTS Writing Process is in Task 1 in IELTS Academic format (IELTS Academic) and is divided into 2 types, with 2 different formats:

2 types of Process papers in IELTS Writing Task 1

1.1 Manufacturing Process

This is a process that describes the production of a common commodity or consumer product (coffee, milk, etc.). This type of process is also known as a Linear Process , a process consisting of successive steps, having a beginning and an end. 

Based on the manufacturing process's human-influenced nature . Writers need to mainly use the passive voice structure when making process descriptions. 

Real test questions in Diagram IELTS format 7/7/2022

1.2 Natural Process

This is the process of development of a thing or the formation of a phenomenon in nature. Another name for this process is Cyclical Process . In general, the processes occurring in nature are cyclical, a continuous loop, the last stage being continued by the first stage.

In addition, because this is the natural development of things, there is no impact of people or other objects. So the writer needs to apply the active voice (Active Voice) when describing the process. 

IELTS Diagram real exam questions in 2019

In addition to the two most popular Process types mentioned above, in Writing Task 1 Academic, candidates can also come across Diagrams that show changes or how an object works.

How a hot balloon works (Real exam in 2019)

Process types are different in terms of the sentence structure used, but in general, the article structure as well as the process of writing Process in IELTS is the same.

Through this article, we will analyze a sample IELTS Writing Task 1 Process to better understand the methods and necessary steps to write articles for this type of topic effectively and get a higher score. 

2. Instructions on how to write Writing Task 1 Process

2.1 Step 1: Identify the process type and understand the steps in the process

At this step, the writer needs to carefully study the overview and details in the IELTS Writing Process to determine: 

• What process does the image depict?
• Is this a Natural Process or a Manufacturing Process ?

For example: Learn the topic and procedure below:

Đề bài: The diagram below shows the life cycle of the honey bee.

→ Process for describing the life cycle of honey bees. It belongs to the form of Natural Process / Cyclical Process, and includes 5 main steps.

The life cycle of a honey bee

2.2 Step 2: Paraphrase the description of the chart to write Introduction

Similar to other types of Writing Task 1, in the Introduction, the writer needs to rephrase the given IELTS Writing Task 1 Diagram introduction in his own language and structure, using the paraphrase technique.

With the above process, the topic is rewritten as follows:

Đề bài: The diagram below shows the life cycle of the honey bee.

→ The diagram illustrates stages in the lifespan of a honey bee.

The words have been replaced:

• The life cycle of the honey bee ~ stages in the lifespan of a honey bee
• Show ~ illustrate

For Natural Process:

• The diagram [shows/ describes/ illustrates/ depicts] + how + a/ an + … + grows during its lifespan.
• The diagram [shows/ describes/ illustrates/ depicts] the stages in the lifespan of…
• The diagram [shows/ describes/ illustrates/ depicts] the growth of…

For Manufacturing process:

• The diagram [shows/ describes/ illustrates/ depicts] + how + … + is/ are [produced/ manufactured/ made].
• The diagram [shows/ describes/ illustrates/ depicts] how to [produce/ make/ manufacture]…
• The diagram [shows/ describes/ illustrates/ depicts] the process of [producing/ manufacturing/ making]…

2.3 Step 3: Select the information to be described in the chart and make an outline

2.3.1 Select information for Overview

Usually, in the Overview paragraph, the writer needs to be able to answer questions about the overview information of Process IELTS Task 1 , including:

• How many stages/steps does the process include? How long does the process take?
• How many steps/stages does the process include? Where to start and where to end? 

Here are some sample sentences that you can apply to the Overview of IELTS Task 1 Process:

• There are… main [stages/ steps] involved in the process of producing…, beginning with… and ending with…
• The… involves/ consists of/ includes… main steps/ stages, beginning with… and finishing with…
• In general/ Overall, the cycle begins when…

Apply the above sentence pattern to the Overview of the article The life cycle of a honeybee :

→ The cycle begins when the adult female bee lays an egg.

2.3.2 Select information for the body of the article

Following the Overview paragraph , two body paragraphs describe the steps/phases in the process in detail. When writing descriptive sentences, the writer needs to flexibly apply the structures (Active - Passive) and the types of language mentioned in the above section. However, the writer also needs to pay attention to two important points when arranging information for the Body section below:

• Determine the exact start and end points of the process

For the Cyclical Process form, the process start and end stages overlap to form a closed cycle. Thus, the writer needs to rely on the information contained in the process to find out the exact starting stage.

The life cycle of a honey bee

For the Linear Process form , determining the start and end points is quite easy. The writer can rely on the information in the process, or notice that, before the first stage and after the last stage, there are no arrows.

• Divide the right amount of information into 2 body paragraphs

When writing the Body paragraph, the writer needs to rely on the content in the process to divide the two paragraphs accordingly. Some candidates split the 2 Body paragraphs by equally dividing the number of steps in the Procedure. However, this can lead to the information circuit being interrupted unreasonably, causing confusion for the reader.

Eg:

In the topic of The life cycle of a honeybee, the writer should divide this process into 2 stages. The undeveloped honey bee stage (egg and larval forms) and the developing honey bee stage.

2.4 Step 4: Based on the outlined outline, link and connect ideas into complete sentences and paragraphs

Below is a sample of Process in IELTS compiled after the above practice steps:

Introduction: The diagram illustrates the life cycle of a honeybee.

Overview: The cycle begins when the adult female bee lays an egg. Typically, every three days the females lay from 1 to 2 eggs, which will then hatch between day 9 and day 10. An immature insect, or a so - called ‘nymph’, makes its appearance.

Body 1: At the third step of the process, the nymph grows bigger in size and molts for the first time 5 days later, and then the second time on the next 7th day.

Body 2: The nymph sheds its skin for the last time 9 days after that before emerging to become a young adult honey bee. It takes 4 days for the young bee to reach the full maturity stage and the process can now be repeated.

In Process writing, candidates will not need to make insights or hypotheses about the diagram they are looking at. Instead, candidates simply follow the prompts, describing what they see in the diagram. This can be quite complicated for some people, so practice is important.

Please see more about how to write Process in IELTS in the following documents:

3. The knowledge that needs to be grasped to apply in the form of Process

3.1 Grammatical structure

As mentioned above, to process the Process IELTS Task 1 post type , the writer needs to flexibly apply the Active and Passive structure. Specifically,

• For the Natural Process type , the writer needs to focus on the described object and its changes through the Active voice structure .

Eg:

Salmon begin their lives in rivers where the adult fish lay and incubate their eggs. After emerging from eggs, the young salmon spend the next stage of their lives being reared in freshwater areas. (Trích bài mẫu của IELTS Simon - Life cycle of a salmon)

• For the Manufacturing process post type , the processing activities and the product that follows each processing step need to be clarified. And in this case, the writer does not know who the object of the processing actions is, so it is reasonable to use the Passive Voice structure.

Eg:

At the first stage in the production of cement, limestone and clay are crushed to form a powder. This powder is then mixed before it passes into a rotating heater.

After heating, the resulting mixture is ground, and cement is produced. Finally, the cement is packaged in large bags. (Trích bài mẫu của IELTS Simon - The process of producing cement)

Candidates need to pay attention to the active and passive grammar structure in the process format

3.2 Vocabulary

An indispensable part of writing a description of Process IELTS Task 1 is the vocabulary used for this type of lesson. Although the Process post format includes many different types of processes, with different topics.

But in general, articles need to use informational language. Along with that are some vocabulary related to production or development in nature.

3.2.1 Language used to relay information

The structure describes the steps in order:

The structure describes the beginning:

• To begin with/ First (of all)/ In the first step, At the first stage of the process,…
• The first step/ stage of the process is…
• The process begins with…
• The process starts when…

Ví dụ:

In the first step, the fish are caught at sea with a large net and then transported to the port using boats.

Transition structure to the next step:

• At the following/ next/ subsequent stage/ step,…
• This is followed by…
• Following that,…
• After that/ Then/ Subsequently,…
• …afterwards.
• After + [V-ing/ clause],…
• Before + [V-ing/ clause],…
• The process continues with…

Eg:

• Following that, the chosen fish are thawed and put in fresh water.
• Then they are cut open, and soaked in salt water and yellow coloring for flavoring.
• In the next stage, the fish are cured with smoke in a machine with various racks.

The structure describes the ending:

• Finally/ Lastly,…
• The last/ final process/ step is that…
• The process finishes/ ends with...
• The process concludes with...

Eg:

Lastly, in order to distribute the complete products, the fish boxes are kept in a cold storage and delivered by trucks to fish shops for selling.

The structure describes the steps taking place at the same time:

Independent conjunctions:

• At the same time,…
• Simultaneously,...
• Meanwhile,…

Eg:

At the same time, on the right side, an outlet is located and serves as an exit for transformed contents.

Connecting words with dependent clauses:

• When + Sub-clause, main clause
• While + Sub-clause, main clause

Eg:

When air travels through the container, its temperature is raised by the generated energy.

Structure to describe repetition:

• The entire process is a cycle which consists of 3 main stages.
• At this phase, the cycle begins all over again.

3.2.2 Vocabulary used in each type of Process

Natural Process form:

Vocabulary describing the life cycle of animals:

State 1:

• Lay a number of eggs (lay a large number of eggs)
• Begin life as eggs
• Hatch within 5 to 7 days (hatches between 5 and 7 days)
• Hatch into… (bloom into)
• The hatching process

Phase 2:

• Be… centimeters in length ~ be… centimeters long
• Vary in size/ colors/ shapes (various in size/color/shape)
• Be termed/ commonly called (known as…)
• Shed their old skin/ shed their outer layer
• Breathe underwater/ breathe out of water

Go through 3 distinct stages of physical development:

Stage 3:

• Start to grow into… (start to grow into…)
• Turn into… (turn into…)
• Grow to maturity
• Grow to adult size (grow to adult size)
• Grow bigger ~ grow in size
• Be fully developed
• Feed on… (eat…)
• Mate (mating)
• Make mass migration across long distance

Vocabulary commonly used in each type of Process

Manufacturing form

Vocabulary describing variation of materials/materials/products
Solids theme vocabulary		Liquid theme vocabulary	Vocabulary on the topic of gas
LaySqueezeShrinkDry in the sunBendFormRotateFoldHarden	MixPressGrindSoftenAbsorbSeparateCombinePile upMolten	Cool downMelt intoCondenseFlowEvaporateCirculatePour into…Filter outConvert… intoBe mixed with…	ExpandCompressCombineHeat upIgniteBurnRelease ~ send out
Some words refer to other processing procedures
CollectBe picked by handBe harvested		RecycleSort… outSeparateClean	TransportTransferDeliverBe sold to Consumers

Vocabulary commonly used in the Manufacturing lesson

4. Common mistakes when writing Process

The most common mistakes with Process IELTS Task 1 form can be mentioned as:

4.1 Problem 1: Using the passive voice too much

Reason : Usually, because the steps in Process IELTS are often unknown to the target audience, candidates often use the passive voice when writing sentences. However, the abuse of passive sentences makes the sentence structure in the IELTS test not diverse, and candidates will have their Grammatical Range and Accuracy points deducted .

Solution : Should alternate active sentences between passive sentences to diversify the sentence structure more.

4.2 Problem 2: Lack of connection between sentences

Reason : Also because there are too many data, candidates do not know which data to compare with which data, leading to messy and inappropriate comparison of data.

Solution : Use connective devices ( First, Second, Next, Afterwards ...) to better connect sentences.

4.3 Problem 3: The article is too short or too long 

Why : Some IELTS Writing Diagrams include few stages or little information. Others contain too many steps or too much information.

Solution :  For graphs with little information, writers can use sample structures, or extended phrases to increase the word count. In addition, the writer can also add the purpose of the process or other information that can be inferred directly from the diagram.

Eg:

• This tube then leads to a water recycling plant, where unwanted substances are removed from the rainwater through a four-step process. Plastic and rubbish, being the biggest objects, are filtered out first.
• Sorted bottles then proceed to be cut by a funnel-shaped machine and washed thoroughly to remove dirt.

You can refer to more ways to improve English writing skills right in the video below to better complete the Process Writing Task 1 IELTS format! 5. Bài mẫu IELTS Writing Task 1 process

5.1 The diagram below describes how storm water is recycled in an Australian city

Introduction: The diagram demonstrates the steps in how storm water is reused in an Australian city. 

Overview: Overall, there are five steps, starting from collecting rainwater and ending with clean water being pumped to houses, in order to recycle rainwater.

Body 1: Firstly, rainwater is collected from drains, which run beneath houses, and funnel the water through a central tube. This tube then leads to a water recycling plant, where unwanted substances are removed from the rainwater through a four-step process.

Plastic and rubbish, being the biggest objects, are filtered out first. Then, small particles are eliminated, followed by making sure the water does not contain bacteria and viruses. 

Body 2: Finally, the plan gets rid of unwanted molecules and salt. What is left is then treated with chlorine to make sure that it is safe to be consumed. The treated water is stored in a water tank, before being pumped up into households to use when needed.

Bài mẫu IELTS Writing Task 1 Process 1

5.2 The process of making clothes from recycled plastic bottles

Introduction: The provided pictures give information on how plastic bottles are recycled into clothes in detailed steps.

Overview: Overall, there are twelve steps in total. The whole process mainly consists of stages where the bottles are sanitized and altered.

Body 1: In the first stage, the plastic bottles are delivered by trucks to factories where the sorting process takes place. Sorted bottles then proceed to be cut by a funnel - shaped machine and washed thoroughly to remove dirt. Next, these bottles are stored in a container and dried under the sun for 10 hours to rid them of any contaminants

Body 2: In the next step, the cleansed bottles are boiled in a cylindrical machine and subsequently strained through small tubes in order to produce yarns. Following that, the manufacturers collect and weave these yarns into fabrics that are suitable for making clothes.

Finally, the recycled fabrics are rolled into separate rolls of cloth, which are ready for clothing manufacture at the last stage of the process.

Bài mẫu IELTS Writing Task 1 Process 2

Readers can refer to IELTS Writing Task 1 Process Sample in the document below for practice:

6. Frequently asked questions about Processs IELTS Task 1

What is the main purpose of the Process essay in IELTS?

Process writing is a type of writing that describes the stages of formation of something or how something works.

How to write Process in IELTS Task 1?

Need 3 steps:

• Step 1 : Read the title of the diagram and write about it, which is the introduction in the essay.
• Step 2 : Describe the diagram in detail - The main body of the essay
• Step 3 : Rearrange the article, arrange the order of sentences and paragraphs, add linking words to make the article fluent and coherent.

Which tense should be used in Process articles?

It is recommended to use the simple present tense in articles in the form of Process

The above article has shown the types of Process IELTS Task 1 and common mistakes when writing this form and how to apply LinearThinking to complete this type of essay completely. Thereby, DOL hopes you have a more general view of the IELTS Process format and understand how to write Process in IELTS. 

Wish you will have an effective IELTS test preparation strategy to achieve your desired band score.