A Corpus-based Analysis on Pragmatic Fossilization in English Learners' Acquisition of Discourse Markers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70088/y49fe798Keywords:
pragmatic fossilization, discourse markers, oral discourseAbstract
The study aims to investigate pragmatic fossilization in English learners' acquisition of discourse markers in oral English. Pragmatic fossilization refers to the inability to completely master and apply the target language, so comparison between non-native speakers and native speakers on pragmatic competence is essential for assessing the level of fossilization. The comparative corpora is built on 2025 "FLTRP-ETIC Cup" English Public Speaking Contest of provincial level (NNS) and 2025 Extemporaneous Public Speaking Finals of Montana State (NS). Based on Fung and Carter's functional classification of discourse markers, the study makes use of Antconc4.3.1 and SPSS (V.27) for quantitative analysis. The results indicate that for 23 groups of valid discourse markers, NNS presents 639 times while NS presents 474 times. Through chi-square test, the result that displays χ2 = 73.182; df = 22; p(2-tailed)<0.001, can manifest there is significant difference in the pragmatic use of DMs in two corpora, which indicates that pragmatic fossilization does exist. Seven typical DMs--and, I think, like, well, yeah, you know, and absolutely are used for qualitative analysis. Through detailed analysis with examples, the results indicate some performances of pragmatic fossilization in non-native speeches. Firstly, the learners neglect some functions of DMs; secondly, they can not achieve the level of natives on using specific functions; thirdly, they can not internalize some functions and not use them naturally, resulting in overproduction. Meanwhile, reasons for those performances are illustrated--lack of language environment and opportunities for practicing, domestic pedagogical orientation toward examinations, negative transfer from native language system. It is expected that the paper can provide examples and insights into understanding pragmatic fossilization of discourse markers in oral utterances.References
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