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Article published In:
Pragmatics
Vol. 33:1 (2023) ► pp.49–77

Development of the use of discourse markers across different fluency levels of CEFR

A learner corpus analysis

ORCID logo | Republic of China Naval Academy
ORCID logo | National Taipei University of Technology
ORCID logo | Charles University

Fluent L2 English speakers frequently use discourse markers (DMs) as a speech management strategy, but research has largely ignored how this develops across different proficiency levels and how it is related to immersive experiences. This study examines the developmental patterns of three DMs – well, you know and like – in the speech of learners at A2-C1 in CEFR with and without immersive experiences in target language environments. The fluency-rated LINDSEI corpus (173 learners) and a parallel native corpus (50 speakers) provided approximately 350,000 tokens and 3,395 instances of the analyzed DMs. Overall, DM frequency (especially with well and you know) among C1 speakers increases with rising fluency levels up to almost native-like levels. Immersive experience correlates positively with overall and individual DM frequency (except for like). As the skillful use of DMs results in more fluent speech production, the didactic implications for L2 instructors should be developed.

Keywords: discourse marker, speech fluency, immersive experience, learner corpus, CEFR, LINDSEI
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Discourse markers in speech
    • 2.1Discourse markers and speech fluency
    • 2.2Discourse markers in native and learner discourse
    • 2.3Discourse markers and immersive experience
    • 2.4Focal discourse markers
  • 3.Research questions
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1Corpus data under investigation
    • 4.2Data analysis
  • 5.Corpus analysis results
    • 5.1Overall frequencies of the three discourse markers
    • 5.2Three focal discourse markers in learner and native groups
      • 5.2.1Discourse marker well
      • 5.2.2Discourse marker you know;
      • 5.2.3Discourse marker like
    • 5.3Use of discourse markers and learners’ immersive experience
  • 6.Discussion
    • 6.1Developmental pattern of discourse markers across fluency levels in CEFR
    • 6.2Effects of immersive experience on the use of discourse markers
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 13 June 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.21016.hua
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