Applied Discourse Markers in Casual Conversations of Male Students in Dormitory Settings and Their Pedagogical Implications for EFL: An Iranian Case Study

Farideh Okati,Parviz Ghasedi

doi:10.17323/2411-7390-2017-3-3-50-59

Abstract

This study is designed to investigate the specific discourse markers that mostly occur in casual conversations among university students who live in dormitories, and to study the amount of attention these expressions receive pedagogically in the context of improving EFL speaking skills. Regarding gender, the investigation was carried out on male students and special topics they talked about are also examined. To fulfill this objective, 6 hours and 3 minutes of casual conversations among 50 students (28 BA and 22 MA) located in 10 dormitory rooms (5 in the BA and 5 in the MA) was audio-recorded and transcribed based on Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson’s transcription system. Furthermore, a semi-structured interview was used to investigate participants’ attitudes towards the degree of emphasis of EFL teachers on Discourse Markers (DMs). The data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively (interview transcripts). According to the findings, 70 discourse markers recurred in the students’ interactions. Likewise, specific topics that received more attention in their conversations were identified. Moreover, the results of the semi-structured interview indicated that discourse markers did not receive sufficient attention in EFL settings. The findings of the current study suggest that instructors and material developers could give more specific attention to discourse markers. Explaining their roles in the production of accurate utterances or bringing samples of natural usage of discourse markers could be of great help to boost learners’ oral skills in the EFL context.

Highlights

This study is designed to investigate the specific discourse markers that mostly occur in casual conversations among university students who live in dormitories, and to study the amount of attention these expressions receive pedagogically in the context of improving EFL speaking skills
The findings of the current study suggest that instructors and material developers could give more specific attention to discourse markers
More than 70 Discourse Markers (DMs) occurred in casual conversations among male Persian-speaking students living in the university of Zabol’s dormitories in the 1994-95 academic year

Summary

Introduction

This study is designed to investigate the specific discourse markers that mostly occur in casual conversations among university students who live in dormitories, and to study the amount of attention these expressions receive pedagogically in the context of improving EFL speaking skills. The findings of the current study suggest that instructors and material developers could give more specific attention to discourse markers Explaining their roles in the production of accurate utterances or bringing samples of natural usage of discourse markers could be of great help to boost learners’ oral skills in the EFL context. Most Iranian EFL learners, in spite of studying English for more than four years in high school and more than two years in university, cannot produce meaningful oral outputs They have only a smattering of knowledge about Discourse Markers (DMs) and do not know how to effectively implement these in class interactions or casual conversations. AN ENQUIRY-BASED APPROACH TO DEVELOP LANGUAGE SKILLS IN MOBILE-SUPPORTED CLASSROOMS comprehensive speech, Paltridge (2012) notes that different ways of using linguistic components during interactions demonstrate different identities. Eggins and Slade (2005, cited in Paltridge, 2012, p. 26) refer to the paradox of casual conversation and argue that casual conversation is “the type of talk in which people feel most relaxed, most spontaneous and most themselves”, yet it is “ a highly structured, functionally motivated, semantic activity...a critical linguistic site for the negotiation of such important dimensions of our social identity as gender, generational location,...social class membership,... and subcultural and group affiliations.”

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