SUPPORTING DETAIL TYPES IN SUCCESSFUL ESSAYS BY INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE TESTING SYSTEM (IELTS) TAKERS

This study aimed to identify the types of supporting details used by successful
International English Language Testing System (IELTS) takers in their essays and
explore the differences in supporting detail types across different essay types. A
quantitative content analysis approach was used to analyze a corpus of 30 high-
scoring essays obtained from the non-official IELTS website, www.ieltsbuddy.com.
Results showed that the most frequently used supporting detail type was "reason,"
accounting for 48.2% of all supporting details, followed by "definition" at 29.9%,
"example" at 12.9%, "step" at 5.5%, "contradiction" at 5%, and "quotation" at 0.2%.
Additionally, the study found that the causes essay type utilized supporting details
most frequently, while problem and solution essays exhibited the most variation in
supporting detail usage. Although not statistically significant, differences in the
frequency of supporting detail usage were found across different essay types. These
findings highlight the importance of teaching and practicing a range of supporting
detail types in writing instruction for IELTS test-takers. However, it is essential to
note that the essays analyzed in this study were obtained from a non-official IELTS
website, and further research may be needed to confirm these findings using real
samples from the official IELTS website.
Key words: Academic Essay, Supporting Details, IELTS