Inborn Talent vs Taught Skills in Sports and Music

It is generally believed that some people are born with certain talents, for instance for sport or music, and others are not. However, it is sometimes claimed that any child can be taught to become a good sports person or musician. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Annotated response

9 correction notes

Showing 9 correction notes.

The relative importance of natural talent and training is a frequent topic of discussion when people try to explain different levels of ability in, for example, sport, art or music.

are based on the belief that all children can effectively be taught to acquire different skills, including those associated with sport, art or music. we can find plenty of evidence to support the view that a child can acquire these skills with continued teaching and guided practice.

However, some people believe that innate talent is what differentiates a person who has been trained to play a sport or an those who become good players. In other words, there is more to the skill than a learned technique, and this extra talent cannot be taught, no matter or how frequently a child practices.

I personally think that some people do have talents that are probably inherited via their genes. Such talents can give individuals that to excel, while more hard-working students never manage to reach a comparable level. of nature versus nurture, Good musicians or artists and exceptional sports stars have probably succeeded because of both good training and natural talent. Without the natural talent, continuous training would be neither attractive nor productive, and without the training, the child would not learn how to exploit and develop their talent.

In conclusion, I agree that any child can be taught particular skills, but to be really good in areas such as music, art or natural talent is required.

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 8.0

The response addresses both views thoroughly and states a clear, well-qualified personal opinion supported by logical reasoning. Its main strength is the fluent, precise language and clear progression; the main limitation is that examples are only sketched in general terms rather than developed with specific detail.

IELTS criteria

How each score was decided

Task Response

8.0

The essay covers both views fully, presents a clear and nuanced position throughout, and develops each idea with relevant explanation, though examples remain general rather than specific.

Coherence and Cohesion

8.0

Paragraphing is logical and sequencing is seamless, with a wide range of cohesive devices such as however, in other words and as with all questions of nature versus nurture used naturally.

Lexical Resource

8.0

Vocabulary is flexible and precise, featuring natural academic collocations like innate talent, mutually exclusive and guided practice, with only rare imprecision.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

8.0

A wide range of structures is used with strong control, including complex conditionals and relative clauses, and errors are rare and non-impeding.