Writing — Task 2 (8 marks), in the spirit of the 2019–2023 papers
II. WRITING — Task 2 (8 marks)
In an online debate about the global job market, you read the following statement: "When a developing country trains doctors and engineers and then lets them leave, it pays for the growth of richer nations."
Do you agree with this view? Write a 12-line article for an e-magazine in which you express your opinion, supporting it with at least three sound arguments.
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1. Answer the question first. Idea: the question is Do you agree?, so the first sentence says I agree, I disagree or I partly agree, and every argument must serve that answer. Before writing, pick from the bank below three arguments that point the same way.
2. Argument bank.
| Brain drain harms the home country | Emigration can also help it |
|---|---|
| The state pays for years of training, then another country benefits from the skills (training cost). | Emigrants send money to their families (remittances); for several developing countries this money is larger than the foreign aid they receive. |
| Hospitals and firms lose their most skilled staff: waiting lists grow and projects stop. | Many come back with experience, contacts and savings and create jobs (reverse brain drain). |
| Families are separated and parents grow old without their children (family ties). | People cannot be blamed for leaving low wages and poor working conditions (push factors) for better ones (pull factors). |
3. Key vocabulary.
- skilled professionals, highly qualified workers, talents; to emigrate, emigrants, expatriates
- push factors (low wages, unemployment, poor working conditions) and pull factors (higher salaries, modern equipment, career prospects)
- home country / host country; to invest in, to benefit from, to contribute to; remittances; reverse brain drain
4. Model article (about twelve lines, one possible stance).
A gift to richer nations?
I largely agree that a developing country which lets its doctors and engineers leave is paying for the growth of richer nations. First, training a doctor takes many years of public money, and when she leaves after graduating, a hospital abroad benefits from that investment. Second, the departure of skilled professionals weakens the services everyone needs: fewer specialists mean longer waiting lists, and fewer engineers mean projects that stop half-way. Third, brain drain widens the gap between nations, because the richest countries attract the best talents without paying for their training. Of course, emigrants send money home, and some return with precious experience. However, these benefits reach a few families, while the losses affect the whole society. Instead of blaming those who leave, our governments should ask the countries that recruit them to pay back part of their training, so that the investment is not simply lost.
5. What is credited. The official corrections of the 8-mark free writing task name three criteria — for example Content (relevance of ideas) 3, Language (grammar and vocabulary) 3 and Mechanics of writing 2 in the 2018 contrôle correction of the shared scientific paper.
- Content — relevance of ideas (3 marks): one stance, stated at once; three arguments that point the same way, each with an example or a consequence; the concession (Of course… However…) is answered, so it does not contradict the stance; an article of about twelve lines with a title, for e-magazine readers.
- Language — grammar and vocabulary (3 marks): topic words from the bank (skilled professionals, benefit from, talents), sequencers, contrast (However, while), a relative clause (a country which lets…), so that for purpose, should for the proposal.
- Mechanics of writing (2 marks): full stops, a capital letter and a question mark in the title, spelling of professionals, engineers, governments.
6. The opposite stance is just as valid. Disagreeing is marked the same way if it rests on three sound arguments — remittances and investment by emigrants, the skills they bring back (reverse brain drain), the freedom to work where one's skills are paid. A stance that changes between the first and the last line loses adherence marks.