A Multi-Perspective Study of Discourse Markers: An Attempt to Sort out the Muddle among EFL Teachers-Students

Abstract

This study aims at sorting out the confusion among EFL teachers caused by the feature of multi-functionality ascribed to Discourse Markers, by studying them pragmatically from various perspectives. The study hypothesizes that the multifunctional aspect attributed to Discourse Markers resides in the social and situational factors in which they are used such as the gender of the speakers, the relationship between them, the topic they talk about, and its theme. It also hypothesizes that females and males are strategically different in terms of using discourse markers, which brings about the multifunctional feature of discourse markers. The results of the analysis show that males and females use the same Discourse Markers for different purposes. The type of topic has an impact on the participants to use a particular Discourse Marker over the other types. Participants who are in a solidary or symmetrical relationship employ Discourse Markers differently from other participants who are in an asymmetrical relationship. Participants arrange their speech according to the goal they want to reach and they subjectively use DMs accordingly. The general theme, which covers the entire discourse, guides the participants to use particular types of Discourse Markers that address its requirements. The capacity of Discourse Markers is generated by means of being semantically bleaching which leads them to serve more than one function.