Think and You Know as Discourse Markers among Korean Speakers of English

Abstract

The present study examines I think and you know as discourse markers among Korean English speakers, using data from sociolinguistic interviews. Previous research on I think and you know has suggested that they are highly frequent among native speakers but much less used by non-native speakers and that particularly you know among nonnative speakers is rather used for discourse-organizational purposes not for intersubjectivity. Since English is learned and used as an important foreign language in Korea, Korean society is a remarkable context for research on both world Englishes and English as a lingua franca. Especially in the context of English as a lingua franca. In ELF interaction, I think and you know as discourse markers have been demonstrated to be used for marking speaker-centered and subjectivity, though they are used differently by native English speakers. The data analysis reveals that the use of I think and you know among Korean speakers of English is similar to that in other ELF communication. Both are used as discourse-pragmatic markers to convey speakercentered attitude as fumbling device and express subjectivity in evaluating part of the discourse. This paper contributes to the growing body of discourse markers analyzed through a systematic and replicable methodology.