Recent Writing Exam: 06/04/2024
The two bar charts below show the proportion of 14-to 16-year-old students studying a foreign language in an English speaking country, and the top three foreign languages.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Sample Answer 1:
The bar charts illustrate the percentage of male and female students aged 14-16 who studied a foreign language in an English speaking nation in the years 1984 and 2007, and the most popular foreign languages that were studied during the same period.
Overall, a significantly larger proportion of girls studied a foreign language than that of boys in both given years, and a lower percentage of students, regardless of their gender, did so in the latter year. Additionally, despite a significant decrease in the study of French and German, both languages remained more popular than Spanish, which saw a rise in its popularity.
In 1984, nearly half of all 14-to 16-year-old female students studied a foreign language, compared to 30% of their male counterparts. By 2007, however, the figures for both sexes had declined slightly to 40% and approximately 25%, respectively.
In terms of the foreign languages that were studied in 1984, French accounted for 50%, followed distantly by German (20%) and Spanish (5%). Thereafter, while the proportion of students learning French and German dropped by 25% and 5% in 2007, in that order, that of Spanish experienced a two-fold increase, reaching 10%.
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Sample Answer 2:
The bar charts compare the percentages of 14-16 year-old students learning a modern foreign language in an English-speaking country across two different years, 1984 and 2007, and also highlight the popularity of the top three languages studied.
Overall, the general trends indicate a decline in the proportion of students studying foreign languages. There has also been a notable shift in language preferences, with Spanish becoming more common while French and German fell in popularity.
In 1984, there was a marked gender disparity in language study, with approximately 50% of girls learning a modern foreign language compared to only about 30% of boys engaging in this pursuit. The popularity of this activity appeared to have dropped over time for both genders, as the figures for male and female students dropped moderately to 40% and 25% respectively in 2007. With regard to the most prevalent languages learned, French dominated as the language of choice among students in both years, with a remarkable decrease from 50% in 1984 to 25% in 2007.
In the same period, German experienced a minor decline from 20% to 15%, remaining the second most popular language in 2007. Conversely, Spanish registered an increase in popularity, as it was studied by 10% of students in 2007, doubling its initial figure in 1984. (215 words)
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