IELTS Writing Task 2 Linking Words: Why the Longest Lists Describe a Band 5 Answer

Nearly every page about IELTS linking words gives you a list of fifty and tells you to use a range of them. The published Coherence and Cohesion descriptors describe over-use of cohesive devices at band 5, and cohesion that is "faulty or mechanical" at band 6.

So the advice and the marking criteria point in opposite directions. This page quotes the criteria, counts what linking words actually look like in answers that scored, and gives the short list worth learning.

What the descriptors actually say

Coherence and Cohesion is one of four criteria of equal weight in Task 2, along with Task Response, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Here is the cohesive device wording, band by band, from the public descriptors.

Read band 9 again. The top of the scale is cohesion that attracts no attention. Not cohesion you notice, not a range of impressive connectors, not one linker per sentence. Cohesion that the reader does not see.

Now read band 5. Over-use sits in the same bullet as inadequate and inaccurate, which means too many is marked the same way as too few. That is the part the long lists leave out. A candidate who memorises forty connectors and places one at the start of every sentence has not moved from 5 towards 7; they have moved from one half of the band 5 bullet to the other half of it.

Band 6 is where most candidates actually sit, and the word there is mechanical. A mechanical linker is one that marks a relationship the sentences would have shown anyway. Our fuller guide to coherence and cohesion covers the other half of the criterion, which is paragraphing and referencing.

What seventeen scored answers look like

Our sample library publishes seventeen Task 2 essays. Each one was written independently and then scored by Bandly's engine, which was never told what band it was aiming at.

I counted how many times a fixed list of 30 common linking words and phrases appears in each answer, divided by the answer's length, and grouped the answers by the Coherence and Cohesion estimate they received. The list was firstly, secondly, thirdly, moreover, furthermore, in addition, additionally, however, nevertheless, on the other hand, therefore, thus, consequently, as a result, for example, for instance, in conclusion, to conclude, overall, although, whereas, while, because, since, in contrast, on the contrary, besides, finally, first of all and such as.

The higher-scoring group uses fewer linking words, not more.

Two honest caveats before you do anything with that. Seventeen answers is a small set, the two ranges overlap heavily, and these are model estimates rather than marks from a qualified examiner. So this is not a rule, and there is no target number of linkers to aim at. What the count does show is that the quantity of linkers is not what separates the two groups. If adding connectors were the lever the long lists claim it is, the direction would at least point the other way.

The two answers with the highest overall estimates in the library, both at 8, used 1.8 and 2.6 linkers per 100 words. Both are near the bottom of the range. You can read them in the Task 2 samples library, where each answer is published with all four criteria estimated separately.

What the criterion notes said instead

More useful than the count is what the engine flagged in the lower-scoring answers. In all three of the Coherence 6 answers I looked at, the word in the notes was mechanical, and not one note said the answer needed more linking words.

• On "On other hand": the missing the makes the device "slightly mechanical and less natural".
• On "This shows that the benefits of social media are very important": This shows is "a somewhat mechanical cohesive device".
• On "Therefore, the advantages of tourism outweigh the disadvantages": "the slightly mechanical use of Therefore", alongside repetition of the topic noun.

That last one points at the real problem, and it is not the connector. It is referencing: saying tourism and these countries again instead of it and they. The band 6 bullet "may not always use referencing clearly or appropriately" costs more than a missing furthermore ever will, and almost no linking word list mentions it.

The short list worth learning

You need about twelve, used accurately, far more than you need forty used approximately. Learn these and stop.

Three notes on accuracy, because an inaccurate linker is marked under the band 5 bullet.

Punctuation. However starting a sentence takes a comma after it: "However, this argument has a weakness." It does not join two clauses with a comma on its own.

Part of speech. Despite and in spite of take a noun or a gerund: "despite the cost", "despite costing more". Although takes a clause: "although it costs more". Swapping these is one of the most common errors in the whole criterion, and the guide to complex sentences and Grammatical Range shows how the clause structures differ.

Register. Besides, what is more, last but not least and all in all are conversational. Task 2 wants a formal register, which the post on academic tone and formal register sets out.

Three habits that cost more than they look like they should

Firstly, Secondly, Thirdly as a skeleton. Starting every body sentence with an ordinal is the clearest example of mechanical cohesion there is. The order was already obvious from the paragraph. Use Firstly once, at the first of two or three genuine points, then let the content carry the sequence.

A linker at the start of every sentence. If five consecutive sentences open with Moreover, Furthermore, In addition, Besides and Also, the reader notices the connectors instead of the argument, which is the exact opposite of the band 9 bullet.

Memorised linking phrases that say nothing. "It is a controversial issue which has been debated for a long time" is not cohesion, it is padding, and it counts towards nothing. See memorised phrases in IELTS writing.

A rewritten paragraph

Same content, same ideas, same length. Only the cohesion changes.

Over-linked. Firstly, social media is harmful for teenagers. Moreover, teenagers spend many hours on these applications. Furthermore, this time is taken from sleep and from study. In addition, therefore, their school results become worse. Besides, they also compare themselves with other people. As a result, consequently, they feel unhappy about their own lives.

Six sentences, seven linkers, two of them doubled up (In addition, therefore and As a result, consequently). Every relationship is announced twice: once by a connector and once by the content.

Rewritten. Social media harms teenagers in two ways. The first is time: hours spent on these applications come out of sleep and study, and school results fall as a result. The second is comparison. Scrolling through other people's edited lives makes a teenager unhappy with their own.

Four sentences, two linkers. The sequence is carried by the first and the second, which point back to two ways; that is referencing, not linking, and it is what the band 7 bullet about a clear central topic within each paragraph is asking for. The content relationships are now in the grammar: come out of is the cause, as a result earns its one appearance, and scrolling opens a clause rather than needing a connector in front of it.

The second version is also 20 words shorter, which in a 40 minute task is 20 words you can spend developing an idea instead.

Linking words in Task 1

The same criterion applies, with one difference: Task 1 has far fewer relationships to mark, because you are describing rather than arguing. What you need there is sequencing and comparison language, not however and therefore. The post on the Task 1 overview shows where the one general statement goes, and complete reports are in the Task 1 Academic samples library.

Do this today

Take an essay you have already written and do three things to it, in this order.

1. Count the linking words using the list above. Divide by your word count and multiply by 100. If you are above 4 per 100 words, you are in the territory the band 5 over-use bullet describes.
2. Delete every linker and read the essay again. Most of them will not be missed, because the relationship was already clear from the content. Put back only the ones whose absence makes a sentence harder to follow.
3. Circle every repeated noun. Replace the second appearance with it, they, this approach, the former. That is referencing, and it is the half of the criterion the lists ignore.

Then put the before and after versions through Bandly and compare the Coherence and Cohesion estimates. The output is a model estimate rather than a mark from a qualified examiner, so what is worth reading is the note attached to each sentence it flagged, and whether the word mechanical appears less often than it did.