Discourse Markers in Learner Speech: A Corpus Based Comparative Study

Öz

Having a vital role in organizing conversational interaction, discourse markers (DMs) are considered to be a significant part of communicative competence. From a Relevance Theoretic perspective and combining insights from corpus linguistics and second language acquisition research, this study is an attempt to explore how non-native speakers of English (NNS) use the DMs in their spoken language. Following the framework of Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis (CIA), this study is based on two specific corpora: Turkish sub-corpus of The Louvain International Database of Spoken English Interlanguage (LINDSEI-TR) for NNS speech and The Louvain Corpus of Native English Conversation (LOCNEC) for native speech. The occurrences of DMs in both corpora were determined using inferential and descriptive statistics. The findings of the study are discussed in connection with implications for language practitioners and syllabus designers in the field of language teaching.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• discourse markers
• learner corpora
• spoken corpora
• contrastive interlanguage analysis
• relevance theory

Discourse Markers in Learner Speech: A Corpus Based Comparative Study

Öz

Sözlü etkileşimin düzenlenmesinde önemli bir role sahip olan söylem belirteçleri iletişimsel yeterliğin önemli bir unsuru olarak kabul edilir. Bağıntı Kuramı çerçevesinde, derlem dilbilim ve ikinci dil edinimi araştırmalarından elde edilen görüşleri birleştiren bu çalışma, anadili İngilizce olmayan kişilerin konuşma dilinde söylem işaretçilerini nasıl kullandığını incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Karşılaştırmalı Aradil Analizi yöntemini takip eden bu çalışma, iki sözlü derleme dayanmaktadır: Anadil konuşuru olmayanların sözlü İngilizce verisi için The Louvain International Database of Spoken English Interlanguage Türkiye alt derlemi (LINDSEI-TR), anadil konuşuru sözlü İngilizce verisi için The Louvain Corpus of Native English Conversation (LOCNEC). Her iki derlemde de söylem işaretçileri betimleyici ve çıkarımsal istatistikler yoluyla analiz edilmiştir. Araştırmanın bulguları, dil eğitimi alanında çalışanlara yol gösterici çıkarımlar barındırmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• discourse markers
• learner corpus
• spoken corpora
• contrastive interlanguage analysis
• relevance theory

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