Why ESL Learners Overuse Transitional Phrases

When you first learned how to ride a bike, what did you want to do all the time? Ride your bike! When you hear a song that you absolutely love, do you keep pressing repeat so you can listen to it over and over again?

When you see an incredible movie, do you have the urge to go buy it and watch it again and again and again? This happens with ESL learners and transitional phrases. They find one transitional phrase that works, and they tend to repeat it throughout their whole document. In some way, the word or phrase becomes a crutch or a fallback to make the work seem more official and formal.

Unfortunately, what actually happens is that the overuse is jarring to the reader. It makes the writing stilted and awkward and might even make the writer seem insecure or unsure.

Less is definitely more. If the word or phrase can be cut—and 90% of the time it adds nothing to the sentence—it should be.

Transitional Phrases and Why We Use Them

Transitional words and phrases create connections throughout a written document. They connect an idea from one sentence to another sentence or one paragraph to another paragraph.

Transitional words and phrases are used to make the written document flow easily from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph. Without transitional words and phrases, one's document may seem choppy, with no breaks in between ideas and with no indication of how one thought is connected to the other.

Transitional words and phrases are often found at the beginning or end of a sentence or paragraph. But how do we know a transitional word or phrase when we see one?

FANBOYS

The most common and simplest transitions are coordinating conjunctions. These conjunctions are often referred to as FANBOYS, an acronym made from the first letter of each coordinating conjunction. These conjunctions that function as transitional words are as follows:

• For

• And

• Nor

• But

• Or

• Yet

• So

These are often used to connect two separate ideas within one sentence. ESL learners tend to use these conjunctions to keep adding ideas onto one sentence, when in fact they should be using separate sentences.

Common Transitional Words and Phrases

There are 10 categories of transitional words and phrases.

1. Transitional words and phrases that introduce examples

2. Transitional words and phrases that show a cause and effect

3. Transitional words and phrases that show a sequence

4. Transitional words and phrases that compare and contrast

5. Transitional words and phrases that concede or show an exception

6. Transitional words and phrases that elaborate on an idea or prove a point

7. Transitional words and phrases that emphasize something

8. Transitional words and phrases used to repeat information

9. Transitional words and phrases that indicate time and place

10. Transitional words and phrases that summarize or conclude a thought

Transitional Words and Phrases that Introduce Examples

In academic writing, all students are told to support their ideas and thoughts with examples. There are many transitional words and phrases that are used to connect thoughts with examples. Here are some examples.

Transitional Words and Phrases that Show a Cause and Effect

To fully explain consequences of actions, we often use transitional words and phrases that show a cause and effect. Here are some examples.

Transitional Words and Phrases that Show a Sequence

When one is writing about thoughts, ideas, or actions that are taking place, there is often a sequence as to what comes first, second, third, and so on. Transitional words and phrases are often used to connect ideas and thoughts and put them in order. The following words and phrases are used as transitions that show a sequence.

Transitional Words and Phrases that Compare and Contrast

There are times when ideas are similar, and there are a few instances when two separate ideas are similar except for a few key differences. Writers often use transitional words and phrases to initiate a comparison of these thoughts and ideas. Here are some common transitional words and phrases that initiate comparisons.

There are often sentences that state opposing ideas and thoughts. These are often contrasted. Here are some transitional words and phrases used to initiate a contrast.

As a native speaker, you know when it's appropriate to use these phrases, but ESL authors frequently misuse these particular phrases, as well as overuse them. That is, they use them as standard transitional phrases, even when no comparison or contrast has been made. Watch for these and cut them.

Transitional Words and Phrases that Concede or Show an Exception

Many writers like to put their own thoughts forward and argue why they are better than those of others. However, they sometimes get put in a predicament where they must concede that someone else's ideas might be more accurate or must admit that maybe someone else came up with the same thought first. Here are some transitional words that might come in handy.

Often when a writer concedes to something, they highlight some exceptions to their concession. Here are some transitional words and phrases that show exceptions.

Transitional Words and Phrases that Elaborate on an Idea or Prove a Point

Often writers cannot describe all of their thoughts and ideas in one concise sentence. How many of us can? There is usually one main sentence that states the initial thought and many others that follow it in order to elaborate on the first sentence. The following transitional words and phrases are used to elaborate on an idea or prove a point, and these are the ones overused the most by ESL authors. Cut them as often as possible.

Transitional Words and Phrases that Emphasize

There is usually one main point to every argument. Usually, a writer will want to use additional sentences to emphasize their main point. Transitional words and phrases are commonly used to emphasize a point. Overusing them weakens the text; it's too much of a hard sell. The following transitional words and phrases are commonly used to show emphasis.

Transitional Words and Phrases Used to Repeat Information

If a writer is writing a 100-page document, such as a thesis, he or she will need to remind the reader occasionally about previously noted points or thoughts. However, the author will have written the work in stages and is likely to be completely unaware that they've used the same transitional phrase too many times. The following are common transitional words and phrases that are used when repeating information. Cut them unless they are essential for clarity.

Transitional Words and Phrases that Indicate Time and Place

Transitional words and phrases can be used to indicate when and where a thought, idea, or action is taking place. Did it occur first, second, or third? Is it occurring here, there, or up above? Here are some common transitional words and phrases used to indicate time and place:

Be aware that some of these phrases are vague and ambiguous. When possible, replace them with something more precise.

Transitional Words and Phrases that Summarize or Conclude a Thought

When a writer wants to finish their argument or wants to finish their paper altogether, they will use a few sentences to wrap it all up and summarize their main ideas. Transitional words and phrases are usually implemented to initiate conclusions. Here are some commonly used words and phrases:

Overusing Transitional Words and Phrases

Transitional words and phrases are helpful, but they can also be used inappropriately. Overuse is the most common mistake that ESL learners make when it comes to transitional words and phrases even when they are used correctly. ESL learners need to know that most sentences can stand on their own without the assistance of transitional words and phrases and still be effective. Here is an example of overusing transitional words and phrases:

English is a difficult language to learn due to the fact that there are many rules, and there are many exceptions. However, it is a universal language that is spoken all over the world. As a result, many people try to learn English every day. Furthermore, although it is difficult to learn, you feel a sense of accomplishment when you start to understand native English speakers. Moreover, after you learn a few words it becomes easier. For example, my uncle just moved here from Hong Kong and learns five new English words a day, and his English keeps getting better and better. In short, English is hard to learn, but, therefore, not as hard as learning Japanese.

Overwriting

When most of us write, we write for a deadline. There are often word and page lengths and limitations that have to be followed. In order to fulfill these requirements, people often write too much or write too little. Writing less and then adding more information later is often easier than writing too much and having to cut. We take great pride in what we write, and we often do not want to delete our work.

Here, we look at what occurs when we overwrite, and we provide you with some helpful hints to eliminate overwriting.

What Happens When You Overwrite?

When you write just to fill up space, there are quite a few things that can occur. The following often present themselves in overwritten texts.

• Inconsistent and inappropriate shifts between the tense, mood, person, and voice

• Ineffective and ambiguous comparisons

• Agreement issues between subjects and verbs

• Pronouns and their antecedents that are incoherent

• Sentences that are either too long or too short

• Overuse of modifiers and nouns

• Overuse of transitional words and phrases

• Redundancy

• Vague language or overly ornate language

Awkward Language

Awkward language is often the result of overwriting. English is fairly direct and utilitarian. Because of this, and because ESL learners may feel insecure about their ability to use English, ESL authors tend to use more words than they need to. This may mean they miss context errors or write convoluted sentences. Be sure to watch for the following:

Misusing words. ESL learners tend to use a word in a context where it actually has a different meaning. When they overwrite, they have less of a chance of catching the misuse of the word. Look at the following example:

• Incorrect: To farther clarify the intended meaning of this experiment, the following equation can be applied.

• Correct: To further clarify the intended meaning of this experiment, the following equation can be applied.

Using pronouns when they do not clarify whom/what they are referring to. Often, ESL learners mention multiple subjects in one sentence and use pronouns without indicating which subject they refer to. Look at the following example:

• Incorrect: Tommy and Billy went to go get ice cream. He doesn't like mint chocolate chip so he got vanilla, while he got rocky road.

• Correct: Tommy and Billy went to go get ice cream. Billy doesn't like mint chocolate chip so he got vanilla, while Tommy got rocky road.

Jargon and technical terms. When writing about a specific topic, there are often particular technical terms and jargon associated with that topic. ESL learners often forget to explain these technical terms to the audience, or they overuse these technical terms so that the content is difficult to decipher. Look at the following example:

• Wordy: In order to circumvent the repercussions in the outlined paradigm pertaining to the aforementioned personnel, we are obligated to establish viable parameters.

• Concise: In order to avoid staff-related problems, we must create practical boundaries.

Loaded language. Often, ESL learners will use a word without fully realizing the emotional or contextual weight of the word. For example:

• People believe that religion is good unless it is a bad religion.

Wordiness. In order to reach page or word requirements, many ESL learners use too many words. This results in awkward and long sentences. Look at the following examples:

Wordy → Condensed Version

• At that point in time → then

• Due to that fact → because

• Regardless of the fact that → although

• In the event that → if

Clichés. Clichés are catchy little phrases. These are to be used in informal writing only, but once an ESL learner learns a cliché they often use it over and over throughout their paper and sometimes inappropriately too. Similar to wordiness, clichés use many words to describe something that could be condensed into a single word or a short phrase. For example:

Cliché → Condensed Version

• Up in the air → unknown or undecided

• Last but not least → last

• Agree to disagree → disagree

• Nothing to write home about → boring, nothing new

Split Infinitives. Many ESL learners will split an infinitive because they are unaware that an infinitive cannot be divided. While most style guides have dropped their objections to split infinitives, doing so can lead to awkward, laborious sentences. For example:

• Awkward: In this experiment, we will try to more clearly demonstrate the purpose of our thesis.

• Smooth: In this experiment, we will try to demonstrate the purpose of our thesis more clearly.

Summary

Overuse or misuse of transitional phrases is a common problem in ESL documents. While transitional phrases are extremely useful when making arguments, many ESL writers will use transitional phrases in nearly every sentence. This is unnecessary and can even make a reader feel as though the author is over-explaining an argument. Closely examine documents making heavy use of transitional words, and cut them where they are unnecessary.

Last Updated: 09/29/2022