A Study On Teachers’ Discourse Markers In College English Classroom Based On Adaptation Theory

Discourse markers as a kind of common linguistic phenomenon, are an important componentof teacher talk in English Class. The proper use of discourse markers by English teachers inclass not only facilitates classroom teaching but also promotes students’ English pragmaticcompetence. Therefore, it is of great theoretical and practical significance to study discoursemarkers in teacher talk. This thesis tentatively studies the use of discourse markers byCollege English teachers in class under the framework of Verschueren’s Adaptation Theory.Firstly, this thesis summarizes pragmatic functions of teachers’ discourse markers accordingto the class observations and the teacher interviews. And then based on the audio recordingstranscriptions and the results from questionnaires, this thesis analyzes the frequencydistribution and the situation using discourse markers by College English teachers. Finally,particularly this thesis interprets the adaptation of teachers’ using discourse markers from thethree aspects of the physical world, the social world and the mental world. The results of thepresent study indicate that the College English teachers employ discourse markers as aconscious communicative strategy and the aim is to adapt the classroom context dynamicallyso as to achieve teaching goals.