The perceptions and discourse markers in essay writing of english majors at faculty of english linguistics and literature university of social sciences and humanities national unive

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HCM CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE THE PERCEPTIONS AND USE OF DISCOURSE MARKERS IN ESSAY WRITING OF ENGLISH MAJORS AT FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE – UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES – NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HO CHI MINH CITY A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By TRẦN PHƯƠNG VY Supervised by NGUYỄN THỊ KIỀU THU, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, OCTOBER 2021 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my sincere thanks and special gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, who read my manuscript with great care, gave insightful comments, and provided valuable support in the preparation and completion of this thesis Without her guidance and persistent help this thesis could not have been possible Additionally, I would like to send my special thanks to all teachers who gave me remarks and advice, which are invaluable for the thesis In particular, I would like to thank Mr Vo Duy Minh who generously dedicated his time shared with me his experience as a writing teacher and Dr Luu Trong Tuan for his comments, suggestion, and encouragement My special thanks go to all the students who were very responsive to the questionnaires and the interviews Also, I would like to thank the faculty members at USSH-EF who provided me with the full assistance whenever I needed it Last but not least, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my family and my friends for their love, caring, understanding, and continuing support to complete this thesis i STATEMENT OF ORGIGINALITY I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: THE PERCEPTIONS AND USE OF DISCOURSE MARKERS IN ESSAY WRITING OF ENGLISH MAJORS AT FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE – UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES – NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HO CHI MINH CITY In terms of the statement of Requirements for Theses in Master’s Program issued by the Higher Degree Committee of the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature, University of Social Sciences & Humanities, National University Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City, October 2021 TRAN PHUONG VY ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I, TRẦN PHƢƠNG VY, hereby state that I being the candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of the theses Ho Chi Minh City, October 2021 Signature: TRAN PHUONG VY iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements i Statement of originality ii Retention and Use of the Thesis iii Table of Contents iv List of Tables viii List of Figures ix List of Abbreviations x Abstract xi CHAPTER 1: Introduction 01 1.1 Background to the study 01 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Statement of the problem 04 Aims and objectives of the study 05 Research questions 06 Significance of the study 06 1.6 Scope of the study 07 1.7 Definitions of key terms 08 1.8 Organization of thesis chapters 08 CHAPTER 2: Literature review 10 2.1 English Discourse markers 10 2.1.1 Defining English Discourse markers 11 2.1.2 Discourse markers and Cohesive devices 15 2.1.3 Discourse markers in writing skills 16 2.1.4 Major approaches to Discourse markers 18 2.1.4.1 Coherence-based account of Discourse markers 19 2.1.4.1.1 Discourse coherence approach 19 2.1.4.1.2 Grammar-pragmatic approach 20 2.1.4.2 Relevance-based account of Discourse markers 21 2.1.4.2.1 Relevance theory framework 22 2.1.4.2.2 Rhetorical structure theory 22 iv 2.1.5 2.1.6 Functions of English Discourse markers 23 Characteristics of English Discourse markers 25 2.1.7 Classifications of Discourse Markers 26 2.1.7.1 Fraser (1991, 1999, 2005, 2009)’s classification 26 2.1.7.2 Discourse marker classifications in studies relating to writing skills 28 2.1.7.3 Adapted Discourse marker classification and list 31 2.1.7.3.1 Mechanism of adapting the discourse marker classification 31 2.1.7.3.2 The discourse marker classification used in the study 33 2.2 Previous studies relating to discourse markers in essay writing skills 35 2.3 Conceptual framework of the study 40 CHAPTER 3: Methodology 42 3.1 Research design 42 3.2 Research site and time 44 3.3 Participants 45 3.3.1 Participants for the questionnaire 45 3.3.2 Participants for the interview 46 3.4 Instruments 47 3.4.1 Questionnaire 47 3.4.2 Interview 50 3.4.3 Essays written by students 51 3.5 Data collection procedures 52 3.5.1 Data collected from the questionnaire 52 3.5.2 Data collected from the interviews 52 3.5.3 Data collected from the essay written by students 52 3.6 Data analysis procedures 53 3.7 Statistic tools 55 3.7.1 Reliability statistics 55 3.7.1.1 Cronbach’s alpha coefficient 55 3.7.1.2 Item-total correlation coefficient 55 3.7.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis 55 3.7.3 Descriptive statistics 56 3.7.4 Percentage and Column/Pie charts 56 v 3.8 Assumptions of the study 56 CHAPTER 4: Results and Discussions 58 4.1 Results 58 4.1.1 Analyzing data collected from the research questionnaire 59 4.1.1.1 Dimension reduction 59 4.1.1.2 Regression analysis 62 4.1.1.3 Reliability statistics 64 4.1.2 Analyzing data collected from the interviews and the essays 65 4.1.2.1 Interviews 66 4.1.2.2 The essay written by the students 69 4.2 Discussion 74 4.2.1 Students’ perceptions of discourse markers 74 4.2.1.1 Students’ perceptions of DMs on characteristics of DMs 75 4.2.1.2 Students’ perceptions of DMs on functions of DMs 77 4.2.1.3 Students’ perceptions of DMs on learning DMs attitudes 78 4.2.1.4 Students’ perceptions of DMs on pedagogical value of DMs 80 4.2.1.5 Students’ perceptions of DMs on practical value of DMs 82 4.2.2 Students’ use of discourse markers 83 4.2.2.1 Commonness and Differences of using discourse markers in essay writing 84 4.2.2.2 Inappropriateness of using discourse markers in essay writing 86 CHAPTER 5: Conclusion 88 5.1 Summary of findings 88 5.2 Pedagogical implications 94 5.3 Limitations 94 5.4 Recommendations for further studies 95 References 97  Books & Articles 97  Websites 105 Appendix 1- Research questionnaire (English and Vietnamese version) … 107 Appendix 2- Interview (questions and transcript) 115 vi Appendix 3- Lists of discourse markers suggested by scholars 128 Appendix 4- An example of DM used in essays 133 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Pragmatic functions of DMs adapted from Briton (1996) 24 Table 3.1: The students’ distributions 46 Table 3.2: The function of questionnaire items 50 Table 3.3: The function of questions in the Interview 51 Table 3.4: Essays written by students 52 Table 4.1: Results of KMO and Bartlett’s test 59 Table 4.2: Results of Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings 60 Table 4.3: Results of extracting factors by dimension reduction analysis 61 Table 4.4: Model summary table of the linear regression analysis 63 Table 4.5: ANOVA table of the linear regression analysis 63 Table 4.6: Regression model of the linear regression analysis 64 Table 4.7: Reliability statistics of the five factors 65 Table 4.8: Students’ use of DMs in 113 essays (averagely) 70 Table 4.9: Students’ use of DMs in 113 essays per the kinds of essays 73 Table 4.10: Descriptive statistic results for the factor Characteristics of DMs 75 Table 4.11: Descriptive statistic results for the factor Functions of DMs 77 Table 4.12: Descriptive statistic results for the factor Learning DMs attitudes 79 Table 4.13: Descriptive statistic results for the factor Pedagogical value of DMs 81 Table 4.14: Descriptive statistic results for the factor Practical value of DMs 82 Table 4.15: Students’ use of DMs types per the kinds of essays 86 Table 5.1: DMs used averagely in essays with different kinds of essays 91 Table 5.2: Student’s use of DM types 92 Table 5.3: Student’s use of DM types per the kinds of essays 92 Table 5.4: Student’s use of DM types 93 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Conceptual Framework of the study 41 Figure 3.1: Research design of the study 44 Figure 4.1: The proportion of DM types suggested by the interviewees 68 Figure 4.2: The most frequent DMs suggested by 16 interviewees 69 Figure 4.3: The proportion of DM types used by the students in their essays 71 Figure 4.4: The most frequent DMs used in 113 essays 72 Figure 4.5: The proportion of DM types used in different kinds of essays 74 Figure 4.6: The distribution of student’s perceptions of DMs on the characteristics of DMs 76 Figure 4.7: The distribution of student’s perceptions of DMs on the functions of DMs 78 Figure 4.8: The distribution of student’s perceptions of DMs by learning DMs attitudes 80 Figure 4.9: The distribution of student’s perceptions of DMs by learning DMs attitudes 81 Figure 4.10: The distribution of student’s perceptions of DMs on practical value of DMs 83 Figure 4.11: The proportion of inappropriate DMs used by the students in their essays 86 ix ý tưởng bạn rời rạc, chí sai lệch phần hay hồn tồn thơng điệp bạn muốn truyền Lúc dù ý tưởng có hay đến đâu bài viết bạn không đánh giá cao.] Student 08: Yes, my lecturer always encouraged me, even learning them by heart [Có, giảng viên ln khuyến khích sinh viên tham khảo chí học thuộc] Student 09: Yes [Có] Student 10: Yes [Có] Student 11: Yes [Có] Student 12: Yes [Có] Student 13: Yes [Có] Student 14: Yes, nhƣng thật tình tơi khơng có tham khảo [Có, but, frankly, I did not refer it.] Student 15: Yes, my lecturer did encourage students to pay attention to the transitions [Có, Giảng viên có yêu cầu Sinh viên ý cụm từ chuyển tiếp] Student 16: Yes, có đƣợc khuyến khích [Có, I was encouraged] Have you made yourself a list of discourse markers to use when you compose essays? Student 01: Yes [Có] Student 02: No [Không] Student 03: I did make a list of discourse markers; however, I have used some of them according to my habit [Tơi có lập danh sách tố diễn ngôn cho kỹ viết, nhiên, dùng số cụm từ theo thói quen.] Student 04: Yes [Có] Student 05: No [Khơng] Student 06: Yes [Có] Student 07: Yes [Có] Student 08: No; I just kept the DMs suggested by my lecturer; however, when I get a new word, which is more interesting, I will add to the list [Khơng có tham khảo phần giáo viên gợi ý Tuy nhiên bắt gặp từ hay bổ sung vào danh sách] Student 09: Yes [Có] Student 10: No [Khơng] Student 11: Yes [Có] Student 12: No [Khơng.] Student 13: No [Không] 121 Student 14: No, [Không.] Student 15: Yes [Có] Student 16: Yes, and I did enjoy collecting these linguistic items from the documents I had chance to approach as You Tube, books, films (but lazy to note them down) In the past, sometimes I took note of them, but now it is not [Mình có, thích chắt lọc từ từ nguồn thông tin tiếp cận xem youtube, đọc sách, xem phim, … lại lười ghi Ngày xưa có ghi chút chút vô tập lúc học môn Writing hay Speaking, khơng.] 3’ If so, the list you have made is based on the kinds of essays or the roles of the discourse markers? If not, why? Student 01: I made the list based on the functions of DMs [Tôi lập danh sách dựa theo chức tố diễn ngôn.] Student 02: Because knowing some common words is enough [vì cần biết vài từ phổ biến.] Student 03: I made the list based on the meaning of the DMs as contrastive, similar, additive, or concluding [Danh sách tố diễn ngơn lập theo nghĩa chúng, ví dụ như: ý đối lập (however, although), ý tương tự (smilarly), thêm ý (moreover, besides), tóm ý hay kết luận (briefly, in conclusion)] Student 04: Based on the roles of the discourse markers [Dựa vào chức tố diễn ngôn] Student 05: Since the number of DMs is large, I only remember some common transitions to use in my essays [Vì CTDN sách tương đối nhiều nên tơi thường đọc ghi nhớ sau áp dụng viết mà khơng tự lập danh sách phân loại riêng cho thân] Student 06: I make the list in line with the meaning and function of DMs This makes me remember them easily to use in my essays [Tôi lập danh sách tố diễn ngôn theo chức nghĩa Điều giúp tơi nhớ dễ dàng sử dụng chúng cách linh hoạt, để viết đa dạng từ vựng, không lặp lại.] Student 07: [Summarized] I make the list in line with the meaning of DMs [Tơi có lập danh sách tố diễn ngôn để thuận lợi cho việc dùng “đúng đủ” nhằm đạt hiệu tối đa việc truyền đạt ý tưởng viết Bởi tố diễn ngơn văn nói văn viết tương đối khác Để tạo nên tính học thuật, dĩ nhiên tơi phải lựa chọn tố diễn ngơn mang tính trang trọng Một việc đơn giản mà hiểu dễ 122 nhìn, dễ chọn thứ chúng phân loại Chỉ tố diễn ngôn không ngoại lệ Tôi lập bảng danh sách theo chức chúng, tơi nhìn cách rõ ràng chúng loại dễ dàng “bốc” để dùng Còn việc lập danh sách theo viết điều tương đối khó tố diễn ngơn xuất nhờ vào việc bạn viết khơng phải đề phải dùng tố diễn ngơn đề tài khác khơng dùng.] Student 08: I make the list in line with the function to remember them easily [Thường theo chức dễ nhớ hơn.] Student 09: Based on the function of the DMs, such as contrasting, concluding, or transferring ideas [Dựa theo chức tố diễn ngôn, ngược lại, kết luận hay chuyển ý.] Student 10: I have usually used my favorite DMs [Tôi thường sử dụng DMs quen thuộc.] Student 11: I have based on the meaning of the DMs when making the list [Tôi theo nghĩa DMs thực danh sách.] Student 12: I think the list provided by the coursebook and other documents are very useful for us to use them [Tôi nghĩ danh sách giáo trình tài liệu khác hữu ích cho sử dụng rồi.] Student 13: I have already remembered some DMs that are enough for me to use; in the case that I want to use more DMs, I will refer the coursebook or other documents [Tôi nhớ phần lớn chúng (đủ dùng) Trong trường hợp cần sử dụng nhiều tố diễn ngôn nữa, mở sách tài liệu để xem lại.] Student 14: No, I think it is not necessary when only few DMs should be used in an essay and I have to write only one essay to finish the course; I already prepared some common DMs to use [Không, cho việc không cần thiết viết cần vài tố diễn ngôn cần viết viết để hồn thành khóa học; tơi chuẩn bị cho vài tố diễn ngơn phổ biến để sử dụng.] Student 15: I based on the functions of DMs [Tôi lập danh sách theo chức DMs.] Student 16: I remember … I did make the list in line with their functions because it is easier for me to remember them than making them in accordance with the types of the essays [Mình nhớ lập danh sách theo chức thấy dễ thuộc áp dụng dễ dàng cho trường hợp theo loại viết.] 123 At which position in an around 500-word essay you usually use discourse markers? Student 01: Chiefly, at the beginning of sentences [Vị trí đặt phần lớn đầu câu.] To start the thesis statement, the body paragraphs, the conclusion, and the last sentence of the essay [Bắt đầu câu thesis statement, đoạn văn thân bài, đoạn kết câu cuối viết* 3] Student 02: In the body of the essay [Thân bài.] At the beginning of the body paragraphs [Bắt đầu đoạn văn thân bài*] Student 03: I put these items at the beginning of the sentences when transferring the ideas and at the beginning of the paragraphs [Tôi đặt tố diễn ngôn đầu câu chuyển ý, đầu paragraph.] Student 04: At the beginning of the topic sentence, the supporting sentences, and the concluding sentence of each paragraph [ở đầu câu chủ đề, câu hỗ trợ triển khai ý câu kết luận đoạn văn bài] Student 05: To start paragraphs (introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion) and, sometimes, to connect the ideas between sentences to help the passage more smooth [Đầu đoạn văn, (mở bài, thân bài, kết luận) liên kết ý để hỗ trợ giúp câu văn trôi chảy (tùy trường hợp cụ thể)] Student 06: In an around 500-word essay, DMs usually are put at the beginning of sentences, the transferring parts of the ideas, the concluding sentence for each paragraph, the concluding sentence of the essay, and at the beginning of body paragraphs [Các tố diễn ngôn viết khoảng 500 từ thường đặt đầu câu: phần chuyển tiếp ý supporting idea, câu kết luận cho đoạn, câu kết luận cho viết, phần chuyển tiếp ý đoạn văn.] Student 07: [Summarized] For the introduction, I have used a DM when starting the second segment; for the body paragraphs, I have used a DM at the beginning of each paragraph and at the middle of the paragraph in accordance with the purpose of the paragraph; for the conclusion, I have usually used a DM to start the conclusion [Vị trí tố diễn ngôn đa dạng, chúng thường xuất đâu (đầu, giữa, cuối) phụ thuộc vào dụng ý tác giả Tuy nhiên, xét theo trường hợp điển hình thấy sau: This confirmation was made by the interviewee 124 Ở phần mở bài: thường theo dạng phản đề/dựng bia-phá bia Tôi nêu ý ủng hộ vế đầu/câu đầu Sau tơi thêm tố diễn ngôn đầu vế thứ 2/câu để phản đề Ví dụ [Howerver, In contrast, …] - Ở phần thân bài: cấu trúc thường dùng đầu đoạn [Firstly, Secondly, Thirdly, …] Đối với luận bên tùy mục đích mà đặt tố diễn ngơn Ví dụ đầu câu [Besides, Moreover, Furthermore, …], câu [in case of, as a result of, …] - Ở phần kết bài: thường đặt đầu đoạn để thông báo trực tiếp cho người đọc biết kết thúc [In conclusion, In summary, …] Student 08: At the beginning of the body paragraphs as first, second, finally [Đầu câu thứ body paragraph first, second, finally, etc.] Student 09: To begin the thesis statement, to begin each body paragraph, to begin the conclusion, and to begin the last sentence of the essay [Bắt đầu câu thesis statement, bắt đầu paragraph bài, bắt đầu đoạn kết bắt đầu câu cuối viết] Student 10: When there is an idea transfer in a paragraph or when a paragraph starts [Khi có chuyển ý hai phần đoạn văn, hay bắt đầu đoạn văn mới.] Student 11: At the beginning of the sentences [Khi bắt đầu câu.] At the beginning of the thesis statement, the body paragraphs, the conclusion, and the last sentence of the essay [Bắt đầu câu thesis statement, đoạn văn thân bài, đoạn kết câu cuối viết*] Student 12: When the previous segments or sentences need to connect to the oncoming sentences [Khi phần trước hay câu trước cần liên kết với câu tiếp theo] At the beginning of the thesis statement, the body paragraphs, the conclusion, and the last sentence of the essay [Bắt đầu câu thesis statement, đoạn văn thân bài, đoạn kết câu cuối viết*] Student 13: In the introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion, especially in the body paragraphs to connect ideas in a body paragraph and to connect the body paragraphs together [Cả phần mở bài, đặc biệt phần thân (sử dụng nhiều để liên kết ý câu đoạn liên kết đoạn với nhau), phần kết luận] Student 14: At the beginning of the thesis statement, the body paragraphs, the conclusion and the last sentence of the essay [Khi bắt đầu câu thesis statement, đoạn văn thân bài, kết luận, câu cuối viết.] - 125 Student 15: I put DMs at the beginning, middle, or end of the sentences [Tôi linh hoạt đặt vị trí khác (đầu câu, câu cuối câu).] At the beginning of the thesis statement, the body paragraphs, the conclusion, and the last sentence of the essay [Bắt đầu câu thesis statement, đoạn văn thân bài, đoạn kết câu cuối viết*] Student 16: An essay has paragraphs, each paragraph usually has sentence; I usually use three DMs for a paragraph at: the topic sentence, the supporting sentence and the concluding sentence [Bài essay có đoạn, đoạn thường câu, thường dùng ở: câu đầu, câu dẫn ý câu kết cho đoạn.] Can you list some discourse markers that you usually use when composing an around 500-word essay? Student 01: Therefore, Consequently, Moreover, Additionally, Nevertheless, Due to, Particularly, Frequently, Surprisingly, Student 02: However, therefore, in contrast, Student 03: Besides, moreover, However, although, unfortunately, Importantly, As a result, consequently, Briefly, in conclusion, Student 04: Firstly (to start body paragraphs*), secondly (to start body paragraphs*), in conclusion, however, therefore, hence, thus, as a result, on the other hand, for example, Student 05: In conclusion, But, However, Not only but also, Moreover, On the other hand, Firstly, Student 06: However, nevertheless, additionally, although, besides, moreover, generally, clearly, in conclusion, briefly, Student 07: Therefore, thus, consequently, as a result of, similarly, in the same way, however, although, whereas, despite the fact that, for example, for instance, such as, Student 08: And, but, next, Student 09: However, Nevertheless, To begin with, More importantly, In addition, Besides, Last but not least, To conclude, In brief, Obviously, Student 10: Firstly/Secondly (to start body paragraphs*4), However, Moreover, Furthermore, For example, For instance, To sum up, Briefly, Clearly, Student 11: In addition, Moreover, Furthermore, For example, As a result, Consequently, According to [the statistics], This confirmation was made by the interviewee 126 Student 12: Moreover, Furthermore, To begin with, In contrast, In addition, Consequently, Obviously, For example, To sum up, However, Student 13: Moreover, In addition, additionally, firstly, secondly (to start body paragraphs*), finally, in the same way, however, on the one hand, although, therefore, consequently, as a result, so, thus, in general, generally, in other words, for example, for instance, to illustrate, by contrast Student 14: However, First (to start body paragraphs*), Second (to start body paragraphs*), Clearly, Obviously, For example, According to [the statistics], To sum up Student 15: But, however, in contrast, nevertheless, in spite of (doing), in comparison with, besides, in addition, moreover, too, so, also, correspondingly, otherwise, as a consequence, for this/that reason, hence, first (to start body paragraphs*), second (to start body paragraphs*), last, finally, in general Student 16: On the one/other hand, besides, in general, to sum up, nevertheless, in spite of, needless to say, eventually 127 APPENDIX 3: Lists of DMs suggested by scholars A Fraser’s (1990, 1999, 2005) classification A.1 Topic markers: signal a different discourse topic (an initial topic, a previous topic) while others signal the re-emphasis on the current topic or signal a refocusing on or the emphasis on part of the topic at hand e.g a propose X, back to my original point, before I forget, by the way, continuing, in any case, in case you don't recall, incidentally, just to update you, listen, moving right along, on a different note, parenthetically, say, speaking of, that reminds me, to continue, to return to my original point, turning now to, while I think of it, while I have you, with regards to A.2 Discourse activity markers: signal the current discourse activity relative to some part of the foregoing discourse, consisting of A.2.a Clarifying: by way of clarification, to clarify A.2.b Conceding: admittedly, after all, all in all, all the same, anyhow, anyway, at any rate, besides, for all that, in any case/event, of course, still and all A.2.c Explaining: by way of explanation, if I may explain, to explain A.2.d Interrupting: if I may interrupt, to interrupt, not to interrupt A.2.e Repeating: at the risk of repeating myself, once again, to repeat A.2.f Sequencing: finally, first, in the first place, lastly, next, on the one/other hand, second, to begin, to conclude, to continue, to start with A.2.g Summarizing: in general, in summary, overall, so far, summarizing, summing up, thus far, to sum up, at this point A.3 Message relationship markers: signal the relationship of the basic message being conveyed by the current utterance to some prior message A.3.a Parallel Discourse Markers: signal that the current basic message is, in some way, parallel to some aspect of the prior discourse e.g also, alternatively, analogously, and, by the same token, correspondingly, equally, likewise, or, otherwise, similarly, too 128 A.3.b Contrastive Discourse Markers: signal a sense of "dissonance" e.g all the same, but, contrariwise, conversely, despite, however, I may be wrong but, in spite of, in comparison, in contrast, instead, never/nonetheless, notwithstanding, on the one/other hand, on the contrary, otherwise, rather, regardless, still, that said, though, well, yet A.3.c Elaborative Discourse Markers: signal that the current utterance constitutes an elaboration of an earlier one e.g above all, also, besides, better, for example, for instance, further(more), in addition, in fact, in other words, in particular, indeed, more accurately, more importantly, more precisely, more specifically, more to the point, moreover, namely, on top of it all, that is, to cap it all off, what is more A.3.d Inferential Discourse Markers: signal that the current utterance conveys a message which is, in some sense, consequential to some aspect of the foregoing e.g accordingly, as a consequence, as a result, consequently, hence, in this/that case, of course, so, then, therefore, thus A.4 Temporal discourse markers (in Fraser, 2005): then, after, as soon as, before, eventually, finally, first, immediately, meantime, meanwhile, originally, second, subsequently, when B Matinez’s (2004) classification B.1 Contrastive markers: DMS that signal that the explicit interpretation of S2 contrasts with an interpretation of S1, consisting of but, however, (al)though, in contrast (with/to this/that), whereas, in comparison (with/to this/that), on the contrary, contrary to this/that, conversely, instead (of (doing) this/that), rather (than (doing) this/that), on the other hand, despite (doing) this/that, in spite of (doing) this/that, nevertheless, nonetheless, still B.2 Elaborative markers: DMs relating aspects of S2 and S1 messages signal a quasi-parallel relationship between S2 and S1, consisting of and, above all, also, besides, better yet, for another thing, furthermore, in addition, moreover, more to the point, on top of it all, too, to cap it all off, what is 129 more, I mean, in particular, namely, parenthetically, that is (to say), analogously, by the same token, correspondingly, equally, likewise, similarly, be that as it may, or, otherwise, that said, well B.3 Inferential markers: DMs which signal that S2 is to be taken as a conclusion based on S1, consisting of so, of course, accordingly, as a consequence, as a logical conclusion, as a result, because of this/that, consequently, for this/that reason, hence, it can be concluded that, therefore, thus, in this/that case, under these/those conditions, then, all things considered B.4 Additional markers: DMs which specifies that S2 provides a reason for the content presented in S1, consisting of after all, because, for this/that reason, since, B.5 Topic relating markers: back to my original point, before I forget, by the way, incidentally, just to update you, on a different note, speaking of X, that reminds me, to change to topic, to return to my point, while I think of you, with regards to C Manan & Raslee’s (2018) classification C.1 Contrastive markers: but, alternatively, although, conversely, despite (this/that), in spite of (this/that), in contrast to, etc C.2 Elaborative markers: and, above all, also, besides, by the same token, equally, in particular, etc C.3 Implicative markers: so, after all, all things, considered, as a conclusion, as a consequence, hence, accordingly, then, therefore, etc C.4 Temporal markers: after, as soon as, before, eventually, finally, first, meantime, meanwhile, etc D Djigunovic & Vickov’s (2010) classification Discourse markers computed statistically: but, still, although, despite, however, instead of, nevertheless, and, also, for example, well, or, in addition, above all, I mean, that is, too, because, so, as a conclusion, of course, for that reason, when, after then, meanwhile, finally, immediately, before, eventually, I think, really, you know, first, OK, I don’t know, just as, actually, oh, 130 D.1 Contrastive discourse markers D.2 Elaborative discourse markers D.3 Inferential discourse markers D.4 Temporal discourse markers D.5 Other discourse markers (not listed as belonging to any group from Fraser’s categorization) E Ghanbari et al.’s (2010) classification E.1 Contrastive markers: showing contrast between two sentences, but, however, … E.2 Elaborative markers: used to demonstrate similarity between sentences, and, moreover, in addition, … E.3 Inferential markers: referring to conclusion which comes from the preceding sentences, so, therefore, … E.4 Conclusive markers: showing a conclusion to what has been mentioned before, in sum, in conclusion, to sum up, … E.5 Reason markers: providing reasons for the content of the preceding sentences, because, since, … E.6 Exemplifier markers: providing the example for the content of the preceding sentences, for example, for instance, … E.7 Ordering markers: order the main points that speakers/writers want to make and indicate a sequence of steps, first, firstly, second, … E.8 Attitudinal markers: expressing the writer’s attitude regarding the truth of preceding content and introducing content in support of cognitive stance, in fact, indeed, … E.9 Topic relating markers: relating the topic of second sentence to the first sentence, back to my original point, by the way, with regards to, … E.10 Transition markers: functioning as cues to direct the listeners/readers’ attention, I think, in my opinion, … F Rahimi’s (2011) classification F.1 Conclusive DMs: in sum, in conclusion, to sum up, etc, … F.2 Reason DMs: because, since, due to, etc 131 F.3 Elaborative DMs: and, also, moreover, in addition, etc F.4 Contrastive DMs: but, however, although, etc F.5 Inferential DMs: thus, hence, so, therefore, etc F.6 Exemplifier DMs: for example, such as, for instance, etc G Daif-Allah and Albesher’s (2013) classification G.1 Additional DMs: in addition to, also, and, etc G.2 Contrasting DMs: however, but, on the other hand, in contrast, etc G.3 Illustrating DMs: for example, such as, etc G.4 Cause and Effect DMs: because, since, so, therefore, etc H Ali and Mahadin’s (2016) classification H.1 Contrastive DMs: but, alternatively, although, contrariwise, contrary to expectations, conversely, despite (this/that), even so, however, in spite of (this/that), in comparison (with this / that), in contrast (to this/that), instead (of this / that), nevertheless , nonetheless , (this/that point), notwithstanding, on the other hand, on the contrary, rather (than this/that), regardless (of this/that), still , though , whereas , yet, etc H.2 Elaborative DMs: and, above all, after all, also, alternatively, analogously, besides, by the same token, correspondingly, equally, for example, for instance, further (more) , in addition, in other words, in particular, likewise, more accurately, more importantly, more precisely, more to the point, moreover, on that basis, on top of it all, or, otherwise, rather, similarly, that is to say, etc H.3 Inferential DMs: so, all things considered, as a conclusion, as a consequence (of this/that), as a result (of this/that), because (of this/that ), consequently, for this/ that reason, hence, it follows that, accordingly, in this/that/any case, on this/that condition, on these/those grounds, then, therefore, thus, etc H.4 Temporal DMs: then, after, as soon as, before, eventually, finally, first, immediately, meantime, meanwhile, originally, second, subsequently, when, etc 132 APPENDIX 4: An example of DMs used in essays 133 134 135