Why beginning every sentence with a transition word is not a good idea

According to the IELTS writing band descriptors, a candidate who achieves band 8 for Coherence and Cohesion “manages all aspects of cohesion well”.

'Cohesion' refers the the grammatical and lexical aspects of writing that connect one part of a text to another. A ‘cohesive device’ is a word or expression that performs this function.

There are several types of cohesive device, but perhaps the ones most favoured by IELTS candidates are 'transition words'. Transition words are expressions such as ‘moreover’, ‘nevertheless’, ‘for instance’, 'in other words' and so on. It is easy to find lists of transition words on the internet, e.g., here and here.

Many candidates mistakenly think that the more they use transition words, the better. Unfortunately, this is not true, and in some especially bad cases where transition words are not only overused but also used inappropriately, the candidate’s Coherence and Cohesion score may come down to 5. According to the band descriptors a writer at this level, “makes inadequate, inaccurate or over-use of cohesive devices”.

It is worth noting that there still may be some overuse in a band 7 response. The descriptor at this level says that the writer “uses a range of cohesive devices appropriately although there may be some under-/over-use”. I interpret this to mean that the overuse is only in some parts of the essay (say, less that 50%), and that when transition words are used, they are almost always used appropriately.

If you look at a typical example of academic writing (e.g., a thesis, journal article, university textbook etc.) and count how many transition words you see on a random page, you will find that they are used sparingly—one or two per paragraph at most. You should do likewise in your response to IELTS

So how do you 'manage all aspects of cohesion well' without over-reliance on transition words? There are at least four other techniques that you can use.

Cohesion within sentences. Correct and appropriate use of subordinating and coordinating conjunctions within sentences. (This will have the additional benefit of helping you avoid using too many simple sentences.)

Referencing. Flexible and appropriate use of pronouns (including relative pronouns)

Substitution. Use of words such as ‘one’ instead of a previously mentioned noun or ‘do so’ instead of a previously mentioned verb and its object.

Ellipsis. Usually involves the omission of a subject or a verb that is recoverable from another part of the sentence. E.g., ‘Many students study hard but fail to achieve the result they want’, where the subject of the second clause—many students—has been omitted

These will be explained in more detail in another post.