Academic Writing Difficulties: PTE Summarize Group Discussion Question with Sample Answers - Page 2

Your task

You will hear a group discussion. After listening, please summarize the discussion in your own words.

“Speaker 1: One thing I found really difficult after starting university was adjusting to the academic writing style. In high school, writing essays was more about expressing ideas clearly and following a structure. But here, there are so many additional expectations—like referencing, critical thinking, and using academic sources properly. Speaker 2: I can totally relate. The first essay I submitted got an average grade even though I thought I had written it well. The feedback said I needed to engage with the literature more deeply and that my argument lacked depth. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure what that meant at the time. Speaker 3: Same here. I think one of the biggest shifts is realizing that university essays aren’t just about presenting facts. It’s more about building an argument based on evidence, and positioning your view within the academic conversation. That was a completely new way of thinking for me. Speaker 1: And don’t get me started on referencing styles. MLA, APA, Harvard—every professor seems to prefer a different one. I spend more time trying to format my bibliography than writing the essay sometimes! Speaker 2: Exactly. I think universities should offer a crash course on academic writing in the first semester. Just one short course to explain how to structure arguments, use evidence, and cite sources correctly. It would save us so much confusion. Speaker 3: Actually, I found the writing center on campus really helpful. I booked a few appointments where they reviewed my drafts and helped me refine my arguments. It’s free, and they even show you how to avoid plagiarism by paraphrasing properly. Speaker 1: That’s good to know! I’ve also started reading sample essays and analyzing how they’re structured. It helps to see what a strong academic voice looks like. I’m slowly getting better, but it’s definitely a learning curve. Speaker 2: Same here. I think once you understand the expectations and practice regularly, it becomes more manageable. But initially, it’s a steep climb. Speaker 3: Yeah, but it’s a skill worth mastering. Academic writing is something we’ll need throughout university and maybe even beyond.”

30 community answers with AI feedback

SCORE 13/16

The given discussion is about three speakers who are talking about the difficulties in writing academic essays. The first speaker tells us that the academic writing styles are quite difficult because the expectations of the reader is quite higher. The second speaker relates to it telling that the average scores that he got in the last essays, even after working hard, told him that the researchers lacked depth. The third speaker further added that the evidence based new way of writing is the real way to write the essays. The further, the first speaker further mentioned that the referencing and the formatting styles are most important in writing essays. The second speaker further added that universities might must introduce crash courses on academic writing, detailing about the sources and citations, so that it becomes easier for the students to write essays. The third speaker also added that he used free writing centers available in the universities, which gave him insights about plagiarism, citations and referencing. The first speaker also added that she used sample essays available, which turned out to be very helpful in the writing process. The second speaker did that practice is what makes s C writing easy and it's a learning curve that need to be mastered with patients. The third speaker further mentioned that academic, I say writing is a skill worth mastering, which can be very useful later on in RI, in life.

AI Feedback

Content:

The response accurately captures the main ideas and details of the discussion, demonstrating good comprehension and paraphrasing. However, it could have synthesized the perspectives more effectively.

Oral Fluency:

The response is fluent with few hesitations, though there are occasional pauses that could be improved.

Pronunciation:

Pronunciation is mostly clear with minor mispronunciations but generally accurate.

SCORE 13/16

in the above group discussion, the three speakers are discussing about how the writing style in university changes as compared to high school. according to the first speaker, adjusting to academic writing style is a task you face in university. while the second speaker says that his first essay was average graded and was remarked not up to the mark. the third speaker said that universities essays are built more on arguments and facts than normal writing. according to the first speaker, referencing styles is different for different professors and it is difficult for them to choose the proper one and it becomes a huge task for them. while according to the second speaker, there should be a crash course on academic writing in the first semester of university so that the students do not struggle with academic writing. the third speaker suggests that he has joined a writing center in the campus which is free for all students and it teaches how to write academically and teaches how to reduce plagiarism and how to choose the referencing styles. the first speaker suggests that sample essays also help them to improve their referencing styles and writing academic killy. while the second speaker such as that practicing regularly and understanding the needs of the professor helps them to write academically. while the third speaker says that it is a skill worth, worth will.

AI Feedback

Content:

The response captures the main ideas and some details from the discussion but includes some inaccuracies and lacks depth in synthesizing the different perspectives. There is a good attempt to paraphrase, but some points are not fully developed.

Oral Fluency:

The speech has a generally smooth rhythm with few hesitations, although there are some pauses that affect the overall flow.

Pronunciation:

The pronunciation is clear and natural, with precise articulation, demonstrating a high level of proficiency.

SCORE 13/16

the discussion says about the academic writing style among three speakers who are in university and they're about to give their writing styles in a different methods. speaker one say is that there is a difference in academic writing style in the university let's say in terms of ideas, formation of the structure, references and etc. speaker 2 says that there is a grading system where he gave an academic writing, very submitted one of his academic writing to the professors, but he was given an average grade, which was disappointing for him. speaker 3 says that university includes facts of this writing and academic writing style. let's say having and proper healthy arguments which will also save time in terms of their confusion. speaker 3 says that also mentions that they should have a crash course in semester 1 providing the basic ideas of what to write in academic style. let's say in terms of practice, in terms of evidence and in terms of what things which shouldn't be added. speaker one says that there is a lack of learning culture in what they are trying to adapt. so she says that it's always a learning process where we try to accept different things and learn at a different stages. speaker 2 says that there are a lot of depths in writing academic style at the university. so when they have all these things included, let's say fatch or evidentious on a paper.

AI Feedback

Content:

The response captures the main ideas of the discussion but lacks some clarity and organization in presenting the relationships between speakers' contributions. Some points are inaccurately paraphrased or less relevant, indicating a need for improvement in coherence and detail.

Oral Fluency:

The speech has a generally smooth rhythm with few noticeable hesitations, although there are some pauses that could be reduced for better flow.

Pronunciation:

Pronunciation is clear and natural with precise articulation, making the response easy to understand.

SCORE 13/16

so here, people are discussing university essay writing styles. they're discussing that writing essays in school was much different than writing it in university because school writing essays was more creative in nature while university is more academic in nature and takes sort of more learning curve before you actually master the art, right? so one of them says university writing essay is not just about presenting ideas or being created, it's also about building an argument. and that requires an entirely new way of thinking. so every, and again, when you're writing essays, every professor prefers a different style, some of them prefer harvard, of them prefers stanford in different universities. and one of them suggests that they should be teaching the essay writing for universities with evidences with examples which would make it more easier over time. one of them also suggests that he went to the writing center in the university which really helped him develop the art of writing essays in university. one of them suggests that sample essay that she read and saw in practice helped her really refine the art. and finally one of them says that it's a steep climb but one that is worth sort of having in your repertoire and practice makes everything perfect and he suggests that more we learn the more we practice, the better we get at it.

AI Feedback

Content:

The response effectively summarizes the main topic and most individual contributions but lacks some synthesis of perspectives.

Oral Fluency:

The speech flows well with few hesitations, but some pauses could be reduced for better fluency.

Pronunciation:

The pronunciation is mostly clear with minor mispronunciations.

SCORE 13/16

the group has a stimulating discussion about coping and essay in this diversity. speaker one mentioned clearly that it's very difficult to write essay in university in comparison to the high school essays. there are some essays which require references and critical thinking. every professor performs differently and i perform a bibliography, which is much more higher than that. i am slowly getting it better. speaker two also totally relay it and agrees to the speaker one and says that, arranging great and i got an average great in the first essay which i have presented. he also mentioned that the feedback said that i need to relate it with the literature. they should release some crash course and save us so much. after practice regularly, it seems to be better and better. speaker 3, again acknowledges it and says that university essays are not just about presenting ideas and facts. there are much more beyond that. that was new way of thinking for it. i booked some a few appointments and it is free and it avoids plagiarism and hurts much more. overall, three speakers agrees to the consensus that writing an essay is difficult in university than writing essays in the high school. overall, it's an informative image and informative lecture which shows the three speakers intense discussion about writing essays in universities.

AI Feedback

Content:

The response captures the main ideas of the discussion and some details of individual speakers' contributions. However, there are inaccuracies and some ideas are not well formulated in the user's own words, leading to a lack of coherence in some parts.

Oral Fluency:

The user demonstrates smooth and natural speech with no noticeable hesitations, contributing to a fluent delivery.

Pronunciation:

The pronunciation is mostly clear with minor mispronunciations that do not significantly impede understanding.

SCORE 13/16

well in this discussion i hear three people talking about how essays have drastically changed since they're high school to the universities and how they all are struggling to write an essay. they describe how previously when they used to write essays in the high school it used to be very easy format, how they used to just write their ideas and express how they feel about something. this would get them a lot good marks. but since they are in university, university professors and faculty doesn't give this expressiveness more importance, they more asked for their personal ideas and they have to position an argument and they have to research about what they are writing. the other friend talks about how he have written so well in his exam, but they didn't give him good marks. his marks were only average because they wrote in the feedback that he has to be more analytical in his research and be more deep about his topics. so they talk about how they have to take help from online or further sources to make essays look more better in universities because universities require more precision and more accuracy and analytical thinking and critical thinking in the essays where essays are very important for them and these three friends talk about how they can improve their essays in universities.

AI Feedback

Content:

The response captures the main topic and most individual opinions but lacks some synthesis and clarity in expressing the conclusion.

Oral Fluency:

The response is mostly fluent with a few hesitations, maintaining a natural rhythm.

Pronunciation:

There are minor mispronunciations, but overall articulation is mostly accurate.

SCORE 13/16

the discussion involves three students talking about the challenges of adapting to academic writing at university. usually, one is discussing how academic writing is very different from high school. they highlight difficulties such as learning proper referencing, developing critical thinking and using academic sources effectively. user-to-use discussing their personal experience of receiving average grades, despite putting in effort, they mention that feedback about lacking depth and not engaging enough with it. later, hr was confusing at first, user-to-use discussing the shift in which it required for university writing, they explained that it is not just about presenting information, but about building strong arguments supported by evidence and engaging with academic discussion. all three also talk about additional challenges like different referencing styles and the time required to format says the shared solutions such as attending writing center sessions, reading sample essays and practicing regularly to improve their skills. to final conclusion is that academic writing is difficult but essential skill that requires time, practice and support to master and universities should provide better initial guidance to help students adapt to more easily.

AI Feedback

Content:

The response captures the main topic, individual contributions, and provides a clear conclusion about the challenges of academic writing.

Oral Fluency:

The response is mostly fluent with few hesitations, maintaining a good rhythm.

Pronunciation:

There are minor mispronunciations, but overall articulation is mostly accurate.

SCORE 13/16

this discussion revolves around three speakers where they discuss about their difficulties in the essay writing in the university. the first speaker finds a difficult to write to adapt to university style essay writings. she does not have a proper structure, critical thinking or a proper reference. to overcome this, she started reading essays and she says that she is getting better. she did all this because the references preferred by professors are different for different one. the second speaker mentioned that he bagged only an average score for the essay that he had submitted only because he lacked literature and critical thinking and also his argument like death. so he started taking crash courses and started building structures, strong arguments, evidence and side sources. he states that practicing regularly can help overcome this dilemma. and the third speaker also faces the same problem that he lacks evidence. so he joined the writing center in campus which provides its free essay writing program and also a crash course to avoid plagiarism in the writing. he explained that this course is very essential and it is a skill worth mastering. group acknowledges the importance of mastering the skill.

AI Feedback

Content:

The response captures the main topic and most individual opinions but lacks some synthesis of perspectives.

Oral Fluency:

The response is mostly fluent with a few hesitations, maintaining a good rhythm overall.

Pronunciation:

There are minor mispronunciations, but the overall articulation is mostly clear.

SCORE 13/16

here the speaker discusses about how the university essays are being written. speaker 1 feels that writing essays should have proper structure and expectation from them is more than when she wrote from the school. the academic sources and all the things which she face is more difficult. speaker 2 speaks about how he got average grade in his first essay and he got a comments to engage deeply and his writing lacks depth. speaker 3 says about university essays where he has no facts and arguments and it's a completely new way of thinking he has to do. so, speaker 1 faces a problem from different universities, different professors came and they expect their expectations are different and she finds solutions of demography may be helpful. and speaker 2 finds giving a short course of crash course about writing structures and arguments will be helpful. speaker 3 finds that writing in the campus will be helpful and there is a free course available which also avoids plagiarism by paraphrasing the structures. so in conclusion, they wanted to write simple structures and it is getting slowly better with the practice and it needs mastering the skill needs mastery.

AI Feedback

Content:

The response captures the main ideas and some details from the discussion but includes inaccuracies and lacks coherence in connecting the points. There is some attempt to paraphrase, but it could be more organized and fluid.

Oral Fluency:

The response demonstrates a generally smooth rhythm with few hesitations, but there are some pauses that affect the overall fluency.

Pronunciation:

Pronunciation is clear and natural with precise articulation, contributing to overall understanding.

SCORE 13/16

The discussion was mainly about problems faced by students in academic writing style. After enrolling into the university. Yes. Academic writing used to be more of, uh, putting your ideas into it but coming to university, it is more about additional information like referencing critical thinking and academic U using academic sources correctly. Even the MLA API hardware professors have different styles of academic writing style, which made her use waste time on bibliography moving further. The second speaker mentioned about that you need to engage with essay. To write a very good academic, to build a very good academic writing style. Also, he suggested that as they're facing problems, the university should offer crash courses for essay writing, which will give us them a foundation and which will help save time. Also he mentioned that using a deep Li literature was a really concern after shifting to A. Moreover, the third speaker mentioned that it is not just about writing essay, but to building a argument and to prove it. So, he suggested that, um, getting feedback from writing center will help them and it they also helped in plagiarism.

AI Feedback

Content:

The response accurately captures the main ideas and some important details of the discussion, reflecting good comprehension. It synthesizes perspectives well, though some minor inconsistencies are present.

Oral Fluency:

The speech is generally fluent with few hesitations, maintaining a good rhythm, although there are occasional pauses.

Pronunciation:

The pronunciation is mostly clear and natural, with minor mispronunciations that do not significantly affect understanding.