A Tentative Study Of The Use Of Discourse Markers By Non-Native Teachers Of English In Chinese Universities

English as a foreign language is paid much attention to in China. Language teaching has its own peculiarity. The teacher talk in language classroom not only serves as a tool to construct the teaching process and the acquisition process of the students, but also sets an example of idiomatic English for the students to follow.The use of discourse markers is important in grading how similar or how successful the learners of English are to that of native speakers. Since it can be agreed that the discourse markers play a critical role in native speakers'communication and make the communication smooth and understandable, we must also assume that DMs are also important for non-native speakers of English to learn.The study on Non-native speaker English teachers is a recent trend. International researchers focus on the self-perception of NNS (non-native speaker) teachers about their teaching behavior and the difference with native speaker English teachers. And a few covered the students'attitudes and preference of NNS teachers. The method of questionnaire is usually adopted. There is little domestic study about the NNS English teacher.Based on theoretical ideas, research methodologies and discourse analysis, the present study attempts to make a first step to describe the usage of DMs by 15 NNS English teachers in 10 Universities in China. The teachers are further divided into three groups by different courses: courses to English majors, College English courses, and courses to vocational and technical college students. The general use of discourse markers by the NNS English teachers is firstly described, then the discourse marker now, which appeared in the beginning and at the end of the class, is paid due attention, and at last, the most frequently used discourse marker so is studied.