Effect of task type on the use of discourse markers in L2 Portuguese by L1 Chinese learners

Abstract

In an attempt to analyze the effect of different oral tasks on the use of discourse markers (DMs) in second language (L2) Portuguese by first language (L1) Chinese speakers at different L2 proficiency levels, the current study is oriented by two research questions: (1) in what way does L2 proficiency of L1 Chinese speakers influence the use of DMs in Portuguese across tasks in terms of the frequency and variety of different DM classes? (2) how does oral task type affect the use of DMs by L1 Chinese speakers of L2 Portuguese in terms of the frequency and variety of different DM classes? Data for the present study were collected by using two oral tasks, conversation task and narrative task, conducted by 12 Chinese speakers of Portuguese at a lower and higher L2 proficiency levels. Results showed that the Chinese speakers tended to use the DMs in L2 Portuguese at a higher rate and wider variety when they were asked to perform the conversation task and the use of some DM categories seems not to stay correlated with the L2 proficiency levels across tasks.