How to Choose a Strong Global Issue for Your IB English Individual Oral (IO)

Choosing your global issue is one of the most important decisions you will make when preparing for the IB English Individual Oral.

Your global issue acts as the central lens for the entire oral. It determines which texts you select, which extracts you analyse, which authorial choices you discuss and how you connect your ideas into one focused argument.

A strong global issue can make the rest of your IO feel much more manageable. A weak or overly broad issue, however, can leave you struggling to find specific evidence or repeatedly making vague statements that do not lead to meaningful analysis.

This guide explains what an IB global issue actually is, how to develop one from your literary and non-literary texts, which mistakes to avoid and how to choose an issue that gives you the best opportunity to demonstrate detailed analysis.

Table of Contents

• What Is the IB English Individual Oral?
• What Is a Global Issue in IB English?
• What Is the Difference Between a Theme and a Global Issue?
• The Five IB Fields of Inquiry
• What Makes a Strong IB English Global Issue?
• How to Develop a Global Issue Step by Step
• Strong Global Issue Examples Across Different Fields
• Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the IB English Individual Oral?

For IB English Language and Literature, the Individual Oral requires you to explore how one global issue is presented through:

• one extract from a literary work
• one extract from a non-literary body of work
• the wider literary work
• the wider non-literary body of work.

The oral consists of a prepared 10-minute response followed by five minutes of questions from your teacher. It is assessed using four criteria: knowledge, understanding and interpretation; analysis and evaluation; focus and organisation; and language.

This guide focuses mainly on IB English Language and Literature. Students completing IB English Literature also use a global issue as the lens for their oral, but their selected texts are literary works rather than a literary work and a non-literary body of work.

What Is a Global Issue in IB English?

In IB terms, a global issue is a real-world issue with broad relevance.

According to the IB, a global issue has three main properties:

1. It has significance on a wide or large scale.
2. It is transnational, meaning that it is evident across different countries, societies or cultures.
3. Its impact is felt in everyday local contexts, meaning that real people experience its effects in ordinary life.

Your global issue therefore needs to be broader than one character, event or country, but focused enough to analyse meaningfully within a 10-minute oral.

For example

Too narrow: The censorship of one particular newspaper during one election.

Too broad: Power.

More appropriate: The use of censorship to suppress political opposition and restrict freedom of expression.

The stronger version applies across different national and cultural contexts while still giving you a clear relationship to investigate.

What Is the Difference Between a Theme and a Global Issue?

A theme is a broad idea that appears in a text. A global issue is a more focused real-world concern involving that idea.

Themes such as the following can be useful starting points:

• identity
• gender
• power
• inequality
• education
• technology
• justice
• freedom
• belonging
• conflict.

However, these single words are generally too broad to function as complete global issues.

You need to ask what your texts specifically suggest about the theme.

For example:

The global issue gives your discussion a clear direction. Instead of speaking generally about “power”, you can examine who controls power, how that control is maintained and what consequences it has for individuals or communities.

The Five IB Fields of Inquiry

When choosing your global issue, it can be helpful to begin with one or more of the five IB fields of inquiry.

These fields are designed to help you brainstorm possible areas of interest and develop a more specific global issue:

1. Culture, identity and community
2. Beliefs, values and education
3. Politics, power and justice
4. Art, creativity and the imagination
5. Science, technology and the environment

The fields are starting points rather than categories you must follow. The IB notes that they are not exhaustive and may overlap significantly. Your global issue does not need to fit perfectly within only one field.

1. Culture, Identity and Community

This field may include issues involving:

• family and social relationships
• race and ethnicity
• nationality
• religion
• gender and sexuality
• migration
• colonialism
• class
• cultural identity
• belonging and exclusion.

Possible global issues include:

• How patriarchal systems negatively affect women’s sense of identity and self-worth
• The impact of forced migration on cultural identity and belonging
• How racial stereotypes contribute to the social exclusion of minority communities
• The loss of Indigenous identity through cultural assimilation
• How social media contributes to the deterioration of teenagers’ self-esteem
• The tension between individual identity and community expectations

2. Beliefs, Values and Education

This field may involve:

• moral and ethical beliefs
• religious values
• cultural traditions
• access to education
• social conditioning
• conflicts between belief systems
• the role of education in shaping identity
• institutional control over knowledge.

Possible global issues include:

• Unequal access to education as a mechanism for perpetuating class inequality across generations
• How education can reinforce dominant cultural values and marginalise alternative perspectives
• The impact of religious intolerance on individual freedom
• How social institutions shape young people’s moral beliefs
• The tension between traditional values and changing social expectations
• The suppression of critical thinking through ideological education

3. Politics, Power and Justice

This field may include:

• political authority
• human rights
• discrimination
• inequality
• censorship
• criminal justice
• war and conflict
• institutional power
• corruption
• wealth and resource distribution.

Possible global issues include:

• How systemic racism contributes to the criminalisation and distrust of marginalised communities
• How authoritarian governments use censorship to restrict political freedom
• The abuse of institutional power and its impact on vulnerable individuals
• The unequal treatment of minority groups within justice systems
• How political propaganda manipulates public opinion
• The relationship between economic inequality and access to justice
• The dehumanising effects of war on civilian populations

4. Art, Creativity and the Imagination

This field may involve:

• artistic freedom
• censorship of creative work
• representation in art
• the commercialisation of creativity
• art as resistance
• beauty and aesthetics
• the social function of art
• who is permitted to create or control cultural narratives.

Possible global issues include:

• The commercialisation of creative expression and its impact on artistic authenticity
• The use of art as a form of resistance against political oppression
• How censorship restricts artistic freedom and public debate
• The exclusion of marginalised voices from dominant cultural narratives
• The role of visual art in challenging social stereotypes
• How commercial pressures influence representations of beauty

5. Science, Technology and the Environment

This field may include:

• climate change
• environmental degradation
• scientific progress
• social media
• digital surveillance
• artificial intelligence
• misinformation
• data privacy
• the relationship between humans and the natural world.

Possible global issues include:

• How social media platforms incentivise the spread of misinformation
• The impact of digital surveillance on privacy and individual freedom
• The tension between economic development and environmental sustainability
• The unequal impact of climate change on disadvantaged communities
• How technological dependence contributes to social isolation
• The ethical consequences of scientific progress without effective regulation
• The manipulation of personal identity through social media algorithms

What Makes a Strong IB English Global Issue?

A strong global issue is:

• specific
• arguable
• clearly present in both selections
• relevant across countries and cultures
• connected to real experiences
• suitable for analysis through authorial choices
• manageable within the time available.

A useful way to judge your issue is to compare the following characteristics.

For example

Weak: Gender

Better: The restriction of female independence within patriarchal societies

Even more focused: How patriarchal expectations pressure women to sacrifice personal identity in order to meet domestic and social roles

The most specific version may not always be the best version. Your issue still needs to be broad enough to apply naturally to both texts and their wider contexts.

How to Develop a Global Issue Step by Step

Step 1: List the Main Themes in Both Texts

Begin by listing the themes, conflicts and social concerns that appear in your literary work and non-literary body of work.

For each text, ask:

• Which people or groups hold power?
• Which people are excluded or marginalised?
• What social values are being challenged?
• What conflict affects the characters or subjects?
• What does the author or creator want the audience to question?
• Which issue appears repeatedly across the wider work?
• Which issue is shown through both content and form?

Do not worry about producing a perfectly worded global issue at this stage. Start by identifying areas of overlap.

Step 2: Find the Strongest Overlap

Compare the two lists and identify concerns that appear clearly in both texts.

For example, both texts may explore:

• the control of women
• racial stereotyping
• the effects of poverty
• political censorship
• the pressure to conform
• the influence of technology
• cultural displacement.

The connection should feel natural. If you need several minutes to explain why one text relates to the issue, the link may be too weak.

Step 3: Identify the Most Relevant Field of Inquiry

Decide which field or fields of inquiry most closely relate to the overlapping concern.

Remember that the field itself is not your global issue.

For example

Field of inquiry: Politics, power and justice
Broad theme: Censorship
Global issue: The use of censorship to suppress political opposition and limit freedom of expression

Step 4: Narrow the Theme into an Arguable Issue

Ask what your texts actually communicate about the theme.

A strong global issue often includes:

• a cause and consequence
• a system and its effects
• a tension between two forces
• the way one group affects another
• the way an institution shapes individual experience.

Useful sentence patterns include:

• How X contributes to Y
• The impact of X on Y
• The use of X to achieve Y
• The tension between X and Y
• The role of X in reinforcing Y
• How X restricts, influences or damages Y

For example:

Theme: Social media
Issue: How social media encourages unrealistic beauty standards and damages young people’s self-esteem

Theme: Education
Issue: How unequal access to education maintains intergenerational poverty

Theme: Power
Issue: The use of fear by authoritarian governments to discourage political resistance

This causal structure is useful, but it is not compulsory. The most important requirement is that the issue is focused, clearly expressed and suitable for both texts.

Step 5: Test the Issue Against the Three IB Properties

Ask these questions:

• Does it have wide significance? - Does this concern affect a substantial number of people or have broader social consequences?
• Is it transnational? - Can the issue be identified across different countries, communities or cultural contexts?
• Is it felt in everyday local contexts? - Does the issue influence the lives, relationships, opportunities or experiences of ordinary people?

If your issue only relates to one character’s personal disagreement, it is probably not sufficiently global.

However, a text may use one character’s experience to represent a much broader issue. The key is explaining how that individual experience reflects a transnational social concern.

Step 6: Test the Issue Against Both Texts

Create a simple evidence table like this.

You should be able to complete each section with specific evidence.

If one column is much weaker than the other, reconsider either the global issue or your choice of text.

Step 7: Choose Extracts That Clearly Represent the Issue

Your extracts should contain enough evidence for detailed analysis.

Look for extracts with:

• several identifiable authorial choices
• a clear connection to the global issue
• important language, visual or structural features
• a significant moment in the wider work
• enough complexity to support multiple analytical points.

The IB expects students to discuss both the extracts and the wider work or body of work. Your extracts act as an entry point into the discussion, rather than being the only material you analyse.

For example, a literary extract may provide opportunities to discuss:

• imagery
• characterisation
• symbolism
• narrative perspective
• dialogue
• setting
• structure
• tone.

A non-literary extract may provide opportunities to discuss:

• composition
• colour
• typography
• camera angle
• framing
• salience
• direct address
• rhetorical appeals
• juxtaposition
• slogans
• layout.

An extract that clearly mentions your issue but contains very few interesting authorial choices may not be the strongest option.

Strong Global Issue Examples Across Different Fields

The following examples demonstrate an appropriate level of focus. They should still be adjusted to reflect the precise concerns of your chosen texts.

Culture, Identity and Community

• How patriarchal systems negatively affect women’s sense of identity and self-worth
• The impact of migration on cultural belonging and personal identity
• How racial stereotypes contribute to the exclusion of minority communities
• The conflict between individual identity and restrictive social expectations
• How social media promotes beauty standards that damage teenagers’ self-esteem

Beliefs, Values and Education

• Unequal access to education as a mechanism for perpetuating class inequality across generations
• How institutional education reinforces dominant cultural values
• The impact of religious intolerance on individual freedom and social belonging
• The conflict between traditional beliefs and changing attitudes towards gender
• How ideological education discourages independent thought

Politics, Power and Justice

• How systemic racism contributes to the criminalisation of marginalised communities
• How authoritarian regimes use censorship to create political and social unrest
• The use of propaganda to manipulate public opinion
• How economic inequality restricts access to justice
• The abuse of institutional power and its effects on vulnerable individuals

Art, Creativity and the Imagination

• The commercialisation of creative expression and its impact on artistic authenticity
• The use of art to resist political oppression
• How censorship restricts artistic freedom
• The exclusion of minority perspectives from mainstream cultural representation
• How commercial media reinforces unrealistic standards of beauty

Science, Technology and the Environment

• How social media incentivises the spread of misinformation
• The impact of digital surveillance on personal privacy
• The tension between economic development and environmental sustainability
• The disproportionate impact of climate change on vulnerable communities
• How technological dependence contributes to social isolation

Common Global Issue Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake 1: Choosing a Single-Word Theme

Issues such as “identity”, “war”, “gender” or “power” are too broad on their own.

Use them as starting points and then specify:

• what causes the problem
• who is affected
• how they are affected
• which system or behaviour is responsible.

Mistake 2: Forcing One Text to Fit

The issue may be perfect for your literary work but only loosely connected to your non-literary body of work.

This creates an unbalanced oral and can lead to superficial analysis.

Both texts should provide enough relevant material for you to examine the issue through specific authorial choices.

Mistake 3: Making the Issue Too Text-Specific

Avoid including character names, author names or text titles in the global issue itself.

For example:

Too text-specific:
How Macbeth’s ambition leads to his downfall

More global:
How the pursuit of power can erode personal morality and identity

You can then explore how Macbeth’s experience represents this wider issue.

Mistake 4: Choosing an Issue That Is Only National

An issue can originate from or be represented through one country, but it should reflect a concern that extends across national or cultural boundaries.

For example:

Too restricted:
The effect of one Australian law on one community

More global:
How discriminatory laws contribute to the marginalisation of minority communities

Mistake 5: Focusing on the Issue Instead of the Texts

The IO is not a presentation about the history of racism, climate change or gender inequality.

The global issue is the lens through which you analyse the texts. Your focus should remain on how the authors or creators present the issue through their choices.

Brief contextual information can be useful, but it should not replace textual analysis.

Mistake 6: Treating the IO as Plot Summary

Explaining what happens in the extract is not enough.

You need to explain:

• how the issue is constructed
• which choices create meaning
• why those choices were made
• how audiences are positioned
• how the extract connects to the wider work.

Mistake 7: Trying to Cover More Than One Global Issue

Your oral should remain focused on one clearly defined global issue.

You may discuss several related effects or ideas, but they should all contribute to the same central issue. Attempting to cover several separate global issues is likely to weaken the focus and organisation of your response. Current IB examiner guidance notes that using more than one issue can have a self-penalising effect on focus.

Tips for Achieving High Marks in the IB English IO

Balance Your Two Texts

Give approximately equal analytical weight to the literary work and non-literary body of work.

You should also balance:

• discussion of each chosen extract
• discussion of each wider work or body of work.

Do not spend seven minutes analysing your literary text and then rush through the non-literary text in the remaining time.

Analyse Authorial Choices

Do not simply identify a technique.

Instead of saying: The author uses imagery.

Explain:

• what the imagery suggests
• why it appears at that moment
• how it shapes the audience’s understanding
• how it presents the global issue.

The same principle applies to visual techniques. Identifying colour, framing or camera angle only becomes analysis when you explain how the choice creates meaning.

Move Between the Extract and Wider Work

Your extract provides close analytical evidence, but you also need to demonstrate knowledge of the entire literary work and non-literary body of work.

A useful structure is:

1. Analyse a detailed choice in the extract.
2. Explain how it presents the global issue.
3. Connect it to another relevant moment in the wider work.
4. Draw a broader conclusion about the creator’s perspective.

This shows that you understand both the small details and the text as a whole.

Link Back to the Global Issue Explicitly

Throughout the IO, explain how each point relates to your chosen issue.

Do not assume the connection is obvious.

Useful linking phrases include:

• This presents the global issue by…
• Through this choice, the author reveals…
• This reinforces the damaging effects of…
• The audience is therefore positioned to recognise…
• Across the wider work, this issue is developed through…
• This representation suggests that…

Use Synonyms Without Losing Precision

Keep a small bank of synonyms for the key words in your global issue.

For example, if your issue focuses on surveillance, related terms may include:

• monitoring
• observation
• intrusion
• scrutiny
• data collection
• loss of privacy.

This helps you maintain a clear connection to the issue without repeating exactly the same phrase throughout the oral.

However, clarity is more important than avoiding repetition. Do not replace a precise term with an inaccurate synonym simply to sound more sophisticated.

Do Not Force Comparison

The current IB examiner guidance states that the Individual Oral is not formally a comparative task. You do not need to constantly compare and contrast the two texts.

Your main task is to explore how the global issue is presented in both selections.

You may discuss similarities or differences when they help your argument, but do not waste time forcing comparative sentences that do not add analytical value.

Prepare for the Five-Minute Follow-Up Discussion

After your prepared oral, your teacher will ask questions designed to explore your knowledge and analysis further.

Prepare by considering:

• other moments in the wider texts that relate to your issue
• alternative interpretations
• contextual influences
• why the creators chose particular forms or techniques
• whether the texts offer similar or different perspectives
• how audiences may respond differently.

Do not simply memorise your 10-minute speech. You need to understand your texts and argument well enough to respond naturally to questions.

Use Your Outline as Prompts, Not a Script

The official outline allows a maximum of 10 bullet points. These points should help structure your oral, but they should not become an excessively detailed script that you read aloud.

Use short prompts for:

• your global issue
• your main arguments
• key techniques
• brief quotations or visual details
• wider-work references
• transitions.

Final Global Issue Checklist

Before confirming your global issue, ask:

• Is it more specific than a single-word theme?
• Does it have significance on a large scale?
• Is it relevant across countries or cultures?
• Is its impact felt in everyday life?
• Is it clearly present in both of my texts?
• Can I find strong evidence in both extracts?
• Can I discuss it across the wider work and body of work?
• Does it allow me to analyse authorial choices?
• Can I explore it properly within 10 minutes?
• Can I explain it clearly in one sentence?

If you cannot confidently answer yes to these questions, refine the wording or reconsider your texts before moving further into your preparation.

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