What is, "a hackneyed phrase"? (陈腐的短语)
A hackneyed phrase is a set expression that has become boring to hear or read. It has become boring as a result of overuse and sometimes, as a result of misuse.
But if one is not a native English-speaker, and therefore does not read or hear a lot of English, how does he or she know that an expression has become hackneyed? That's a difficult question, which I cannot answer right now.
As for IELTS Writing test candidates, the best way to avoid hackneyed phrases is to be very careful when memorizing patches of English from 'model answers' of typical IELTS Writing questions. If an expression seems to be very frequently used in model answers, it is best to consider whether the expression is hackneyed or not before using it. Sometimes, it might be best to try to make one's own expression for commonly used expressions in model answers.
A good example of, what I think is a hackneyed phrase among IELTS Writing test candidates in China is, "Last but not least". If I read that in an essay, I either want to scream or I just yawn. I'm a middle-aged native English speaker from Australia who also lived in the U.S. once for three years. In my experience, the phrases, "Last but not least" is most often used in spoken English and is usually used in group settings, i.e., used when talking among at least three people. To me, the expression has a 'folksy' and 'friendly' feel about it - obviously it must be rather informal English. A typical situation when this expression might be used is this: I'm the manager of a department in a company and this morning I will introduce four new employees to the other employees. I ask the four new employees to line up in front of the whole office staff. I begin by saying, "First, this is Mr. Wang. He's our new assistant accountant. Then we have Miss Li, who is a new receptionist , ........and, last but not least, we have Mr. Lin, who is our new website manager." Why did I say, "Last but not least"? Because I didn't want Mr. Lin to feel offended by being introduced last. (Even though it was he who chose to be at the end of the line!)
For me, reading "Last but not least" causes me to dislike the writer a little, or at least to lose some respect for him or her. Just write, "Last" or "Lastly" if you can't think of another way to introduce the last item! Don't try to 'impress' me with, "Last but not least" in an academic essay.
What style of writing should an academic essay be? It's somewhere between normal spoken English, formal English and scientific, analytic English. Some candidates write in an unsuitably formal style and often this kind of candidate makes many mistakes because he or she is writing above their natural sentence-making ability. Task 2 should not be written in the highest level of formality because, after all, candidates are encouraged to include examples from their own experience, i.e., write personally but writing the highest level of formality is impersonal in style. Therefore, your essay is not the highest level of formality. On the other hand, academic writing does not contain too many examples of expressions that are mostly used in spoken rather than written English. For some reason, I believe, "Last but not least" is best used in spoken English situations.
A similar hackneyed phrase is, "First and foremost". Avoid it.
*******************************************************************************************
Some Internet links to, "Hackneyed Phrase"
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hackneyed
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O998-hackneyed.html
(The word on the next page that might not appear clearly is 'clichés'. The é is called 'the French acute e'. Some words in English borrowed from French have kept both their French pronunciation and spelling.)
http://ask.yahoo.com/20050211.html
http://lookwayup.com/lwu.exe/lwu/d?s=f&w=hackneyed
(I don't know anything about the next site. I'm just linking to this reference to, "hackneyed phrases".)
http://roicopy.com/2006/09/12/hackneyed-phrases-you-want-to-throw-away-forever/
http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/columnist/strauss/2006-11-12-jargon_x.htm
http://p211.ezboard.com/hackneyed-phrases/fwordoriginsorgfrm9.showMessage?topicID=478.topic
http://writingfiction.suite101.com/blog.cfm/using_clichs_or_not
(I don't know anything about the next site. I'm just linking to this reference to, "hackneyed phrases".)
http://wordfreaks.tribe.net/thread/c72c7a4b-89f1-4d5b-9c4f-23d0efc8d40d