Discourse Markers as Information Managers in Police Interviews: A Comparative Study

The study of Discourse Markers has turned in to an important research topic in Linguistics yielding the appearance of dozens of articles yearly (Fraser, 1999). Discourse markers signal a relationship between the aspect of the segment in the discourse in which they occur and how this segment relates to what was discussed in a previous segment or following segment in the discourse (Fraser, 1999). The purpose of this study is to try to find in what ways are discourse markers used in managing the flow of information in police interviews and how does the use of one discourse marker compare to the use of several discourse markers during the interview? It is hypothesized that discourse markers will be used to transition or maintain topic selection, to keep the conversational floor and to manage the flow of information. It is posited that the use of one discourse marker versus several discourse markers during the interview will accomplish better information management. Applied conversation analysis is utilized on two transcribed police interview videos. One video will have one dominant discourse marker being used during the interview. The second video will have multiple discourse markers used during the interview. After analyzing both video transcriptions the data revealed that using one primary discourse marker did not yield better information management versus using many discourse markers during a police interview. Discourse Markers are defined as words or phrases that help to connect, organize and manage what is said or written (Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2016). Discourse Markers (DMs) are important in contexts where information management is vital, such as in police interviews. Discourse Markers have not been studied in this context therefore this study aims to highlight the importance of discourse markers as information managers within a police interview and to open the discussion concerning how discourse markers should be used during a police interview to better manage information given by the interviewee.