An analysis of written discourse of North Korean second language speakers of English: Its linguistic features and their discursive functions with pragmatic implications

This dissertation examined linguistic and pragmatic characteristics of written discourse of North Korean second language speakers of English comparing it with that of North American native speakers of English by analyzing linguistic features used in the two sets of texts and their discursive functions based on Biber's (1995) and Hinkel's (2002) studies on spoken and written discourse of first and second language speakers of English with pragmatic consideration such as discursive goals and language learning contexts.;Whatever the real intention or purpose of North Korean speakers/writers is in talk exchange, they are perceived to fail to be persuasive and effective communicators to the audience and readers of western society. A total of 67 linguistic features are chosen and the frequency rate of each linguistic feature occurring in political statements written by North Korean non-native speakers of English and newspaper editorials by North American native speakers.;Conclusions of this study show that North Korean writers seem to use linguistic features differently and the features function differently from native speakers of English, creating discourse of different genres. Different cultural, political and pedagogical contexts of language such as discursive goals, face work, and authentic input seem to be reflected in their use of linguistic features and hence Biber's Factorial frame can be a more effective tool to figure out how and why North Korean second language speakers' discourse is different from native speakers, with pragmatic consideration for the overall language use.