2022 UPDATE: PLEASE NOTE FOR 2022 APPLICATIONS THE ECAA IS NOT BEING USED. INSTEAD STUDENTS ARE BEING ASKED TO TAKE THE TMUA ENTRANCE TEST.
In my last article I gave some general tips on how to do well in ECAA essays. Please see a link to the article here:
Today I will try to make these tips more actionable. Let’s discuss a possible paragraph structure (since I have received this question a few times) and an example of how you might write a particular paragraph in an example essay.
Stuck on Structuring your Essay?
The essay questions for the ECAA often have two parts or subquestions.
For each subquestion, there are often two sides to the argument. Now while there are multiple approaches to do well, if a structure helps, one way to structure the essay would be as follows:
- Introduction.
- Address the first part of the question. You could do this by having 2 paragraphs for and 2 paragraphs against, in any order. For example you could write 1 paragraph for, 1 against, 1 for, 1 against depending on how you think it best to link between the specific points you are making.
- Address the second part of the question. Ideally 2 or 3 paragraphs here. This could be 1 or 2 paragraphs arguing the point for, then 1 or 2 paragraphs against.
- Conclusion.
This is a structure I have students use and do well with. But again, if you use a different structure, that is fine.
If you are stuck for how to start, then this is one way just to get things going. However if you see a reason to deviate that will help your answer, I encourage you to do so.
Apply This to an Example Essay
I will now work through what kinds of things you might write for each paragraph.
Take one of the example practice essays from my previous article here on automation. This example is from the PDF file at the bottom of my previous article.
The first part of the question is:
“Evaluate two advantages and two disadvantages of automation”.
The link to the Economist article for this (which may require a subscription) is here.
The essay for this part may involve a paragraph for each of the advantages and disadvantages. In particular these paragraphs could include:
- Disadvantage 1: the effect of automation in replacing workers.
- Advantage 1: the increase in demand for automation-related employment, for example engineers to build the robots.
- Advantage 2: the potentially positive effect of automation on productivity.
- Disadvantage 2: automation may not increase productivity (“so-so” automation) OR high initial costs to firms of introducing automation OR some tasks may be better done by humans than by robots.
Writing up an Example Paragraph
Let’s pick disadvantage 1 to discuss in further detail. Again there is no one right way to make the point, but here is one way of doing this using the standard point, evidence, explanation (with evaluation) structure:
- Point: Automation may replace some workers, increasing the rate of unemployment.
- Explanation: Particularly for repetitive jobs, machines may be more efficient than workers or may produce the same output at a lower cost. This leads to “capital-labour substitution”, where capital replaces workers. The demand for labour falls and so more workers are now unemployed and may have to find new work. However if these workers are either low-skilled or have very specialist skills, it may be harder for them to find new employment. As labour demand has fallen, the equilibrium wage in the labour market may fall too [if you are familiar with these diagrams, you are welcome to draw one. However as you do not need to have done A-level Economics, or equivalent, to apply to the course, there is no need to do so]. Therefore real incomes and living standards would fall, which may increase the poverty rate.
- Evidence: For example the introduction of self-checkout systems could replace retail workers and the introduction of driverless lorries, possibly in the next decade, may render the driver unemployed. [There is also evidence in the Economist article linked in the question to quote on this].
- Evaluation: However there is some evidence that not all of these workers would be displaced by automation. The automation may generate new jobs for these workers to do, for example fixing the machines [there is more on this in the Economist article].
Some Caveats
While the answer above is simplified and may not be perfect, this is just one way of going about writing your answer. This is just one paragraph for one part of this practice question. You would have to write the other paragraphs and address the second part of the question too.
The main caveat again is that there are multiple essay styles and paragraph structures that can score well. If it helps you to have a structure, then this is one good way to do it, but there are many other ways to do it too.
I do not know what question will actually come up in the test. The choice of question is simply based on previous questions that have appeared.
Essay Reviews
I am happy to review essays you have written for a tuition fee. If you are interested, please feel free to email me at tomftutor@gmail.com for more information.
Please kindly note that, while I can provide comments on your essay, I do not write sample essays.