LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 13:9 September 2013
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

HOME PAGE

Click Here for Back Issues of Language in India - From 2001

BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ AND DOWNLOAD FREE!

REFERENCE MATERIAL

BACK ISSUES

  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports in Microsoft Word to languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.

  • PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES GIVEN IN HOME PAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LIST OF CONTENTS.

  • Your articles and book-length reports should be written following the APA, MLA, LSA, or IJDL Stylesheet.

  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2012
M. S. Thirumalai
Custom Search

Discourse Markers in Written English Texts in a Multilingual Setting:
A Comparative Study of High School English in the Schools of Assam

Barnali Chetia, M.A., M.Phil.

Abstract

The present study is an account of the use of discourse markers of English and the implications they have with respect to their function for cohesion, coherence and continuity of discourse in the written texts of the students studying in English medium, urban vernacular medium and rural vernacular medium schools of Assam. The study also includes certain sub-sections in order to have a detailed and comparative study of the discourse markers found in the written texts of the subjects under study.

The study offers a view of the multilingual setting in Assam in which the teaching and learning of English takes place. It shows what roles the variables of

a) Medium of instruction
b) Gender
c) Urban/rural difference

play in the acquisition of discourse markers. The study is backed by a preliminary account of the educational policies proposed by educational organizations such as the NCERT and the more recent Multilingual Education (MLE) proposals of the UNESCO.

The study is based on responses to questionnaire and cloze tests administered in the schools and on an examination of the written texts of the students. The data are analyzed using elementary statistics and conclusions drawn.

The conclusions of the study bring out a detailed picture of the generalizations in the use of discourse markers amongst all the groups of students as well as variations in the levels of competence across the different groups.

Key words:discourse marker, coherence, cohesion, continuity, repertoire

Introduction

The present study attempts a detailed and comparative study of the discourse markers in English used in the written texts of high school students of Assam.

Discourse Markers

Discourse markers are the word insertions that provide continuity in conversations. Discourse markers are also known as words or short ‘lexicalized phrases’ (Schiffrin, 2001) that organize texts. Discourse markers help to create ‘cohesion’ and ‘coherence’ in a given text by establishing a relationship between the various ideas that are expressed within the text (Schiffrin, 2001). Schiffrin (1987) operationally defines discourse markers as sequentially dependent elements which brackets units of talk. Examples of discourse markers in English would include ‘oh’, ‘well’, ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘or’, ‘so’, ‘like’, ‘because’, ‘now’, ‘then’, ‘I mean’, ‘you know’, ‘uh’, ‘anyway’, ‘yet’ etc. ‘Discourse markers’ is the term linguists give to the above mentioned words that break our speech up into parts and show the relation between parts. Discourse markers are found in various grammatical categories including conjunctions, interjections and adverbs. Discourse markers can ‘connect’ various units of dynamic meaning (coherence) as well as the surface structure of the text (cohesion). For example, ‘oh’ prepares the hearer for a surprising or just-remembered item, and ‘but’ indicates that sentence to follow is in opposition to the one before. However, these markers don’t necessarily mean what the dictionary says they mean. Some people use ‘and’ just to start a new thought, and some people put ‘but’ at the end of their sentences, as a way of trailing off gently. Discourse markers also occur when speakers shift their orientation to information. In this case the markers alert the listener that something within the speaker has changed.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Barnali Chetia, M.A., M.Phil.
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi-110067
India
barnali.ch@gmail.com
Custom Search
  • Click Here to Go to Creative Writing Section

  • Send your articles
    as an attachment
    to your e-mail to
    languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Please ensure that your name, academic degrees, institutional affiliation and institutional address, and your e-mail address are all given in the first page of your article. Also include a declaration that your article or work submitted for publication in LANGUAGE IN INDIA is an original work by you and that you have duly acknowledged the work or works of others you used in writing your articles, etc. Remember that by maintaining academic integrity we not only do the right thing but also help the growth, development and recognition of Indian/South Asian scholarship.