A Case Study Of Perceptions Of Senior High School English Teachers Towards Discourse Markers

Discourse markers are seen as the indispensable part in successful communication.Similarly,discourse markers also play the important part in English teaching.As the crucial part in teacher talk,discourse markers have a great effect on the interpretation of teachers' utterances,and the appropriate and accurate use of discourse markers by teachers can make their utterances more coherent and understandable.However,the relevant studies on discourse markers have focused on their pragmatic value while the pedagogical value of discourse markers have received less attention.Therefore,the present study aims to investigate senior high school English teachers' perceptions towards discourse markers from the following three aspects: the pragmatic value and pedagogic value of discourse markers and their representation in English classrooms.Three questions are put forward in the present study.And they are 1)How do senior high school English teachers think about the pragmatic and pedagogic value of discourse markers? 2)What do senior high school English teachers think about how discourse markers should be represented in English classrooms? 3)How do senior high school English teachers present discourse markers in actual teaching?The research instruments of the study are questionnaire and interview.Firstly,the study conducts questionnaire to 20 teachers from a senior high school in Chengdu.By using the SPSS software,the factor analysis is performed to extract seven factors from the forty-five original variables,and the mean and standard deviation of every variable is calculated to analyze teachers' perceptions towards discourse markers.Secondly,six teachers are randomly chosen for the interview in the study and their opinions on the pedagogic value of discourse markers and the representation of discourse markers in English classrooms are summarized.The results show that firstly,teachers perceive the pragmatic value and indispensable value of discourse markers in communication,but the pedagogic value of discourse markers don't receive much attention.Similarly,they barely highlight discourse markers in listening and speaking due to the lack of awareness of the pedagogic value of discourse markers.Secondly,teachers deem that learners should strictly follow native speakers' norm of using discourse markers.And in teaching,they prefer to prioritize teaching discourse markers for receptive purposes rather than for productive purposes.Meanwhile,they mention that teachers should influence their students subliminally through using discourse markers from the initial stage of English learning and highlight discourse markers in discourse at secondary school.Thirdly,the natural process to master discourse markers and the exam-oriented education system might be responsible for the undervalued pedagogic value of discourse markers.The following pedagogical implications can be obtained in the light of the above findings.In the first place,teachers should attach great importance to the pedagogic value of discourse markers in listening and speaking.Secondly,teachers should pay more attention to use discourse markers appropriately and accurately in their utterances.Besides,teachers should briefly introduce some knowledge about discourse markers in class and enhance students' awareness of using discourse markers.