IELTS Writing Task 2 — Globalisation and Culture: a Band 9 sample answer

The rapid spread of global trade, travel and media has reshaped daily life almost everywhere. Some observers fear that this connectedness is quietly dissolving local traditions, whereas others argue that it breathes new life into them. Having weighed both positions, I believe globalisation enriches cultures more than it threatens them.

Those who worry about cultural loss make a fair point. When the same fast-food chains, films and fashions appear in every city, distinctive customs can fade. A teenager in a small town may know more about American pop stars than about the folk songs his grandparents sang, and minority languages are vanishing at an alarming pace as English and a handful of other tongues dominate the internet. From this angle, the world risks becoming a bland, uniform place where local identity is steadily flattened.

Yet the opposite case is, to my mind, more persuasive. Exposure to other cultures rarely erases one's own; more often it sharpens appreciation of it. Thanks to global platforms, a Sri Lankan craftsman can now sell traditional masks to buyers worldwide, giving an old art form a fresh commercial lease of life. Festivals such as Diwali and Lunar New Year are celebrated far beyond their homelands, and cuisines once confined to a single region now delight diners across continents. Cultures are not fragile relics; they adapt, borrow and grow stronger through contact.

In conclusion, while globalisation undeniably places some local traditions under strain, I am convinced that, on balance, it spreads, revitalises and celebrates them. Connection enriches culture far more than it impoverishes it.