Raise the issue

Posted by Pak Guru on March 21st, 2016 | 0 comments | collocation, IELTS, mengangkat, Part 3, speaking, Task 2, vocabulary, writing

The growth of cashless payments has raised the debatable issue whether this payment method is part of the problem or part of the solution.

One problem here is that the issue is the growth of cashless payments, while one aspect of the issue is whether or not it is useful. Another problem is that an issue is normally raised by someone. 
It would be better to begin with someone raising the issue, and then focus on a specific aspect of the issue:

• In a recent meeting the prime minister raised the issue of the growth of cashless payments. We discussed whether this payment method is part of the problem or part of the solution.

Note this structure: raise the issue + of + [name of issue]
Alternatively you might avoid doing any raising of issues and stick to more standard cause / effect:

• The growth of cashless payments has caused much debate about whether this payment method is part of the problem or part of the solution.

Whatever you decide, note that in English raise collocates strongly with issue. Otherwise it goes together with things like ‘your hand’, ‘the Titanic’ and other items that need to be lifted from a lower position to a higher position. If this is not the meaning of raise that you are trying to communicate then your IELTS score for writing and speaking may go down, rather like the Titanic!