Well I’m not sure I think… The use of well by non-native speakers
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Karin Aijmer
Abstract
Pragmatic markers are an important part of the grammar of conversation and not simply markers of disfluency. They have a number of functions that help the speaker to organize the conversation and to express feelings and attitudes. Advanced EFL learners use frequent pragmatic markers such as well. However their use of well diverges from the native speaker norm. The present study uses data from the Swedish component of the LINDSEI corpus and its native speaker counterpart (LOCNEC) to examine similarities and differences between native and non-native speakers. The overall picture is that Swedish learners overuse well, although there are considerable individual differences. Thus learners use well above all as a fluency device to cope with speech management problems but underuse it for attitudinal purposes. Pragmatic markers cannot be taught in the same way as other lexical items but it is important to discuss how and where they are used.
Abstract
Pragmatic markers are an important part of the grammar of conversation and not simply markers of disfluency. They have a number of functions that help the speaker to organize the conversation and to express feelings and attitudes. Advanced EFL learners use frequent pragmatic markers such as well. However their use of well diverges from the native speaker norm. The present study uses data from the Swedish component of the LINDSEI corpus and its native speaker counterpart (LOCNEC) to examine similarities and differences between native and non-native speakers. The overall picture is that Swedish learners overuse well, although there are considerable individual differences. Thus learners use well above all as a fluency device to cope with speech management problems but underuse it for attitudinal purposes. Pragmatic markers cannot be taught in the same way as other lexical items but it is important to discuss how and where they are used.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
-
Introduction
- Errors and disfluencies in spoken corpora 1
- Uh and Um as sociolinguistic markers in British English 33
- Windows on the mind 59
- Well I’m not sure I think… The use of well by non-native speakers 93
- Fluency versus accuracy in advanced spoken learner language 117
- Fluency, complexity and informativeness in native and non-native speech 139
- Name index 163
- Subject index 167
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
-
Introduction
- Errors and disfluencies in spoken corpora 1
- Uh and Um as sociolinguistic markers in British English 33
- Windows on the mind 59
- Well I’m not sure I think… The use of well by non-native speakers 93
- Fluency versus accuracy in advanced spoken learner language 117
- Fluency, complexity and informativeness in native and non-native speech 139
- Name index 163
- Subject index 167
