A Study of Self-repair Markers in Conversation by Chinese English Learners

Abstract

The present study examines the differences in the use of three self-repair markers well, I mean and maybe between native speakers and Chinese English learners. The corpora of BNC (British National Corpus) and SECCL (Spoken English Corpus of Chinese Learners) are employed in the study. The research results indicate, that the Chinese English learners underuse well and I mean, but overuse maybe, compared with native speakers. The detailed analysis, supported by statistical tests, proves the role of "Pragmatic Fossilization" as an element to consider in second language learning and teaching [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]