Discourse Markers in Narrative Essays: A Case Study of Jordanian High School EFL Learners

Abstract

This study explores the use and functions of discourse markers (DMs) in the narrative essays of 85 Jordanian high school students adopting Frasers’s (2006) framework. The results show that the most frequently used DMs were elaborative (55.1%), followed by temporal (31.4%), inferential (9.3%) and contrastive (4%) respectively. Regarding the functions of DMs, the results reveal that the participants employed elaborative markers to express addition of information, temporal markers to sequence the events, inferential markers to introduce reasons or results and contrastive markers to express contrast. The results also indicate that the most commonly used DMs were and (97.9%), but (90.9%), and because (76%). The high occurrence of some DMs may be considered to be a strategy adopted by learners to avoid using unknown DMs. In addition, the results showcase that a number of factors may have influenced the use of DMs such as literal translation, lack of knowledge of some DMs, and overgeneralization. The study recommends that textbooks used to teach English in schools should incorporate more attention to DMs, particularly from a functional perspective.