A Study On The Use Of Types Of Discourse Markers Between Novice And Experienced English Teachers In The Class

Discourse markers are an essential part of teachers’ class discourse and play an important role in the teaching process.In recent years,scholars at home and abroad have done a lot of research on teachers’ class discourse markers.However,the number of domestic studies on the use of discourse markers by novice and experienced English teachers in high schools is limited.Based on this,this study was based on the interaction theory,input theory and output theory,by using the combined quantitative with qualitative methods,and took the discourse of the four English teachers of grade one in Urumqi No.4 Middle School as the research objects.This paper explored the use of discourse markers by novice and experienced English teachers in grade one based on the real recording data in class.The following two research questions are specifically investigated:(1)What are common types of DMs used by English teachers in the class in the high school? And what are common types of DMs that English teachers often use inappropriately?(2)What are differences in the use or inappropriate use of the types of DMs between novice and experienced English teachers in the class in the high school?The results showed that,first,there are four types of class discourse markers mainly used by high school English teachers: among them,the structural type is the most used,and the use rate of ’OK/okay’ is the highest.The second is interpersonal type,and ’yes’ is the most frequently used.The third is the referential type,in which the usage rate of ’and’ is the highest.The least used discourse markers is cognitive types,of which ’that is’ is used more than other DMs.The inappropriate use of discourse markers by English teachers includes misuse,overuse and lack of diversity.The most common type is overuse,followed by lack of diversity,and the least used is misuse.Among overuse type,structure type is the most used,with the highest use of ’OK/ okay’.Among the misuse type,the most common type is the structural type,the ’second’ is the most used.Among the type of lack of diversity,the most used DMs are from the referential type,followed by the cognitive type.The least used DMs are from interpersonal and structural types.The results also showed that the use of discourse markers by experienced English teachers is higher than that of novice English teachers.In terms of inappropriate use of discourse markers,the overusing of markers by experienced English teachers is higher than that of novice English teachers.The proportion of the misuse and the lack of diversity by novice English teachers is higher than that of experienced English teachers.The results of this study can provide useful references for improving curriculum setting,and improve English teachers’ awareness of using discourse markers in class and improve their quality research and practice.