EFL 학습자의 영어 발화에 나타난담화표지어의 사용 양상과 인식

Korean EFL students’ use and perceptions of discourse markers

This study aims to investigate Korean EFL high school students’ use and perceptions of discourse markers(DMs). Nineteen high school students were given three prompt questions in an English-speaking task. After answering the questions, each participant engaged in a stimulated recall session and a semi-structured interview, discussing their thoughts and ideas and answering the researcher’s questions. The results showed that fifteen types of DMs were used a total of two hundred ninety-eight times. The four most commonly used DMs were ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so, and ‘because’ in all types of questions. Furthermore, the participants imposed multiple functions on the DMs. The findings further revealed that the participants recognized the functions they imposed on each DM, employing DMs to elaborate utterances and to assist listeners in understanding their intentions more clearly, for successful communication. Lastly, the participants believed their skewed use of certain DMs reflected their limited English ability. This implies that learners need to have more chances to learn DMs in a classroom setting. To do so, it is necessary to offer adequate teacher training programs for English teachers. This endeavor will lead us to the way of encountering more learners of communicative competency as English education ultimately pursues.