Use Of English Discourse Markers Research Articles

The use of English discourse markers across gender: A corpus-based study

The current study aims to investigate the kinds of discourse markers (DMs) used by Indonesian university students in their cause-and-effect essay writing with consideration of gender groups. Twenty-nine cause-and-effect essays composed by 10 male and 19 female university students were analyzed using the DM taxonomy adapted from Fraser’s (1999) and Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) studies. AntConc 3.5.7 was utilized to find out the types and the frequency of the discourse markers in a corpus-based data analysis. The analysis identified 191 DMs from the 29 cause-and-effect essays. The findings revealed that, in terms of DM variability, there were no notable differences between the use of DMs by the male and female students. However, the study also observed some excessive use of DMs and a general lack of consideration of punctuations following the DMs by some of the male students. Taken together, our findings suggest a degree of similarities between the use of DMs by the male and female students with some potential limitations shown by the male students. Implications for the teaching of discourse markers as well as recommendations for future research are discussed.

Gender Difference: The Use of English Discourse Markers in Business News Articles by Vietnamese Journalists

Discourse markers (DMs) appear in a quite high frequency in both spoken and written language. Moreover, they are not only cohesive devices but also tools which help convey language users’ intentions to their discourse. Research into DMs is, nevertheless, still rare regarding the use of English DMs by Vietnamese writers. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the use of English DMs in business news articles by Vietnamese male and female journalists. To that end, 80 business news articles written in English by Vietnamese journalists were chosen. Kopple’s (1985) [1], Fung’s (2003) [2], and Fraser’s (1996, 1999) [3-4] theoretical frameworks are adapted for data analysis. It was found that both Vietnamese male and female employed English DMs in their writing in a similar way. Female journalists were, nevertheless, found to employ the interpersonal functions of the used English DMs more than their counterparts.

SCRUTINIZING ENGLISH DISCOURSE MARKERS IN EFL STUDENTS’ WRITING PRODUCTION

Fraser (1988; 1996; 1999) which are classified EDMs functions as ‘contrastive, ‘elaborative, and ‘inferential. This study designated the use of English discourse markers by University EFL students in writing production. To answer the research question on how do they disclose EDMs in producing writing, the writers employed a qualitative research approach. The object was the documentation of students’ writing result mediated on the writing class. The participants were 38 students of semester III in the academic year 2018/2019. The findings are the contrastive markers are; but 63/instead of 2/whereas 2/however 16/although 2/in the other hand /side 6. The elaborative markers are; and 597/also 105/or 69/for example 27/besides 7/moreover 3/in addition, 24/then 6/likewise 1. The inferential markers are; because 97/so 51/as a result 9/therefore 11/in conclusion 3/then 1. The most functions of discourse markers use by students are; the marker ‘but’ has a meaning ‘on the contrary. The marker ‘and’ has a meaning as ‘in addition’. Students used the marker ‘because’ to indicate ‘for the reason’. The implication of this study is that students need to understand in employing properly English discourse markers to make their writing being cohesive and coherent in texts.

The use of micro-level discourse markers in British and American feature-length films: Implications for teaching in EFL contexts

Discourse markers (DMs) are significant for fluent speech. Furthermore, they are important elements of language for conversation organization, reciprocal relation among interlocutors, and productive speaking and comprehension. Although, they have very important functions for pragmatic development, they seem to be neglected in language teaching either because of the belief that they are difficult to teach, or as a result of the focus on grammatical competence in language teaching. This study examined the use and functions of micro-level. DMs in British and American feature-length films and it provided implications for using feature-lengths films as a source of authentic language input for explicit or implicit teaching of DMs. The scripts of four films (two British and two American) were analyzed using the AntConc Concordance program. The results show  that there is not a significant difference between British and American films in terms of the frequency of DMs well, like, and you know .  On the other hand, it is found that oh is used significantly more frequently in British films than American films. The functional analysis of the DMs showed that, both British and American feature-length films represent the use of English DMs in native discourse. Therefore, the study concludes that the films could be used for teaching and learning of DMs in foreign language teaching. The results are discussed in terms of pedagogical implications.Â

The Impact of Implicit Instruction upon the Use of English Discourse Markers in Written Tasks at the Advanced Beginners’ Level of EFL Proficiency

This article aims at examining the impact of implicit instruction upon the use of English discourse markers (further – DMs) in written tasks at the advanced beginners’ level of proficiency in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The theoretical premises of the present research are based upon the role of implicit instruction associated with pragmatic competence, conceptualised as a fundamental dimension of language ability (Laughlin et al., 2015). The research further described in the article involves a quantitative computer-assisted metho­do­logy of computing the frequency of DMs in the written tasks by a group of EFL learners at the advanced beginners’ level of EFL proficiency (further referred to as participants). The frequency of DMs calculated by the computer program WordSmith (Scott, 2012) revealed that implicit instruction in EFL settings had no positive effects on the participants’ use of English DMs in the written tasks. These findings are further discussed in the article.

Butqui c'est la différence? Discourse markers in Louisiana French: The case ofbutvs.mais

AbstractThis article examines the use of English discourse markers in Louisiana French, focusing in particular on Englishbutand its French counterpartmais. Based on data collected in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes, we examine the speech of bilinguals to determine the status of these markers, which provide a window onto the role of discourse markers in situations of language contact. Though the markers show an overlapping semantic and functional distribution,butmore often appears in the context of at least one pause. We also provide acoustic evidence and an analysis of the markers in different functions to conclude that the need for iconic contrast via language mixing (Maschler 1994, 1997; de Rooij 2000) is only one possible motivation for the use of foreign markers. We conclude that discourse markers may carry social meaning and be the site of identity construction as much as they are the site of text organization. (Discourse markers, bilingual discourse, codeswitching, language shift)*

Effect of first language on the use of English discourse markers by L1 Chinese speakers of English

This study investigates the effect of native language (Mandarin Chinese) on the use of English discourse markers by L1 Chinese speakers of English. Few previous studies have been conducted on this area. Data for the study were gathered using individual sociolinguistic interviews with five native English speakers and ten L1 Chinese speakers. Results show that three Chinese discourse markers were found to have some influence on their corresponding English expressions. The L1 Chinese speakers using the deliberative function of I think in medial or final position (while the native English speakers did not) may have transferred their use of I think from their L1 wo juede because wo juede can mark the deliberative meaning in medial or final position. Second, the L1 Chinese speakers used yeah/yes as a backchannel after the interlocutor's reaction “uh huh” or “ok” while the native English speakers did not. This use may be transferred from the corresponding Chinese expression dui because dui was found to have the same use in the data. Finally, ah was found to perform a clause-medial function (followed by self-correction) by the L1 Chinese speakers; however, the native English speakers did not use ah for that function. The corresponding Chinese expression a was found to have the same correction function.

Well, Now, Okey Dokey: English Discourse Markers in Spanish Language Medical Consultations.

The purpose of this paper is to examine use of English discourse markers in otherwise Spanish language consultations. Data is derived from an audio-recorded corpus of Spanish language consultations that took place in a small community clinic in the United States as well as post-consultation interviews with patients and providers. Through quantification of the use of discourse makers in the corpus and discourse analysis of transcripts, we demonstrate that English-speaking dominant medical providers use English discourse markers more frequently and with a broader range of functions than do Spanish-speaking dominant medical providers and patients. We argue that such use of English discourse markers serves to exacerbate the power relationship between providers and patients even though the use of English discourse markers does not cause overt miscommunication in the ongoing interaction. Implications for providers who use a second language in their medical consultations are discussed.

Well, Now, Okey Dokey: English Discourse Markers in Spanish-Language Medical Consultations

The purpose of this article is to examine the use of English discourse markers (EDMs) in medical consultations that were conducted in Spanish. Data are collected from an audio-recorded corpus of Spanish-language consultations that took place in a small community clinic in the United States as well as post-consultation interviews with patients and providers. Through the quantification of the use of discourse makers in the corpus and discourse analysis of transcripts, this article demonstrates that English-dominant medical providers use EDMs more frequently and with a broader range of functions than Spanish-dominant medical providers and patients. Such use of EDMs serves to exacerbate the power relationship between providers and patients even though it does not cause overt miscommunication in the ongoing interaction. The implications for providers who use a second language in their medical consultations are discussed.

Variation in the use of discourse markers by Chinese teaching assistants in the US

The use of discourse markers (DMs) is common in everyday native speech. If an L2 speaker wants to sound more like a native speaker, one way is to adopt the “conventional expressions” (e.g. DMs) used by native speakers in the local community. Recently a number of studies have examined DM use by native speakers of a variety of languages; however, relatively few studies have explored the use of DMs by L2 speakers and even fewer have examined L2 speakers in the study-abroad context. This study investigates the use of English DMs by six male and female Chinese L1 graduate students in a study-abroad context. The DMs examined are yeah, oh, you know, like, well, I mean, ok, right, and actually, for a total of 1422 tokens. Combining insights from variationist sociolinguistics and SLA, this study uses quantitative methods to investigate the use of DMs in two settings, TA-led discussions and sociolinguistic interviews, and examines the variable production of L2 speakers. In addition, this study also employs qualitative analysis to examine the relationship between L2 speakers’ multifaceted social identities, language attitude, and participation in the local community with their individual repertoires and frequency of DM use.

The use of discourse markers in E.F.L. learners' writing

This study investigates the use of discourse markers by Spanish learners of English. It is intended as an initial contribution to the study of how discourse markers are used by foreign language learners. We conduct two pilot studies involving the use of English discourse markers by native speakers of Spanish. We first study if these speakers use English discourse markers at all in their writings and if they use some markers and not others. We then compare the use they make of discourse markers in Spanish and in English. This study shows that native speakers of Spanish use discourse markers extensively and in appropriate ways both in Spanish and in English. We also observe some differences between the writings in English and Spanish with respect to the number of markers employed as well as the variety of markers used. With these initial results, we intend to better define future research questions and directions.