The use of micro-level discourse markers in British and American featurelength films: Implications for teaching in EFL contexts

Discourse markers (DMs) are significant for fluent speech. Furthermore, they are essential elements of language for conversation organisation, reciprocal relation of interlocutors, productive speaking and comprehension. Although they have critical functions for pragmatic development, they are neglected in language teaching either because of the belief that they are challenging to teach or as a result of the focus on grammatical competence in language teaching. This study examined the use and functions of micro-level DMs in British and American featurelength films, and it provided implications for using feature-lengths films as a means for authentic language input in explicit or implicit teaching of DMs. The scripts of four films (two British and two American) were analysed using the AntConc Concordance program. The results showed that there is not a significant difference between British and American films regarding the frequency of DMs well, like, and you know. On the other hand, it was found that oh was used more frequently in British films than American films. The functional analysis of the DMs showed that both British and American feature-length films represent the use of English DMs in native discourse. Therefore, the study concludes that the films could be used for teaching and learning of DMs in foreign language classrooms. The results were discussed with pedagogical implications.

İngiliz ve Amerikan uzun metrajlı filmlerinde mikro düzey söylem belirleyicilerinin kullanımı: Yabancı Dil Olarak İngilizce bağlamında öğretim için çıkarımlar

Akıcı bir konuşma için söylem belirleyicileri önemlidir. Ayrıca, bunlar konuşma örgütü için dilin önemli unsurları, muhataplar arasında karşılıklı ilişki kurma ve üretken konuşma ve anlama için önem arz etmektedir. Her ne kadar pragmatik gelişim için çok önemli işlevleri olsa da, öğretilmelerinin zor olduğuna yönelik inanç ya da dilbilgisi yetkinliğine odaklanılması sebebiyle dil öğretiminde ihmal edilmiş görünmektedirler. Bu çalışma, İngiliz ve Amerikan uzun metrajlı filmlerinde mikro düzeydeki söylem belirleyicilerinin kullanım ve işlevlerini incelemekte ve bu filmlerin otantik dil kaynağı olarak söylem belirleyicilerinin doğrudan veya örtülü öğretimde kullanılmasına yönelik çıkarımlar sunmaktadır. Dört filmin yazılı metinleri (iki İngiliz ve iki Amerikan) AntConc Concordance programı kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Sonuçlar, İngiliz ve Amerikan filmleri arasında well, like, ve you know söylem belirleyicilerinin kullanım sıklığı bakımından anlamlı bir fark olmadığını göstermiştir. Öte yandan, İngiliz filmlerinde Amerikan filmlerine göre oh söylem belirleyicisinin daha sık kullanıldığı görülmüştür. Söylem belirleyicilerinin fonksiyonel analizi, hem İngiliz hem de Amerikan uzun metrajlı filmlerin İngilizcenin yerli söylemini temsil ettiğini göstermiştir. Bu nedenle, çalışma, filmlerin yabancı dil eğitiminde söylem belirleyicilerinin öğretimi ve öğrenimi için kullanılabileceği sonucuna varmıştır. Sonuçlar pedagojik çıkarımlar açısından tartışılmıştır.

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