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Functions, sociocultural explanations and conversational influence of discourse markers: focus on zenme shuo ne in L2 Chinese

  • Xi Chen ORCID logo and Wei Ren ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: May 8, 2023

Abstract

This study explores the ways that L2 learners develop their knowledge in understanding the pragmatic functions of a Chinese discourse marker (DM), zenme shuo ne (‘how to say’), and examines three interrelated aspects in pragmatic knowledge of this DM. Using metapragmatic interviews, emic data are collected from sixteen L2 Chinese learners and nineteen L1 Chinese speakers. The data are analysed using both qualitative methods and computational models. The findings reveal that L2 learners identify a different range of DM functions from L1 speakers. They attribute their function identification to concerns about self-face and speaker-centred interpersonal relationships, in contrast to L1 speakers, who refer to moral norms and indirect interpersonal relationships between the hearer and a third party. The different interpretations that L1 and L2 participants develop for the DM have given rise to different expectations of conversational directions. L2 learners are consistently more optimistic about upcoming conversations than L1 speakers.


Corresponding author: Wei Ren, School of Foreign Languages, Beihang University, Beijing, China, E-mail:

Funding source: Chinese Testing International Co. Ltd

Award Identifier / Grant number: CTI2020B08

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Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2022-0230).


Received: 2022-12-04
Accepted: 2023-04-19
Published Online: 2023-05-08
Published in Print: 2024-11-26

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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