THE USE OF DISCOURSE MARKERS (CONNECTORS) IN NARRATIVE AND
ARGUMENTATIVE ORAL DISCOURSES PRODUCED BY SCHOLARS IN
INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION
It is well known that in the late stage of acquisition you reach a level of discourse
and pragmatic sophistication needed to produce coherent and cohesive texts,
especially with use and knowledge of the connectors. This can best be used to
relate discourse elements when telling a story or when trying to convince someone
to adopt a certain point of view or of doing something. (Akiguet y Piolat, 1996;
Brassart, 1990, 1996; Coirier y Marchand, 1994; Golder, 1996; Gutiérrez-Clellen &
Iglesias, 1992).
This study pretends to show the quantitative and qualitative differences in the use
of some connectors in narrative and argumentative oral discourses, in the late
stage of acquisition. Our main question was: Is there a relationship that can be
established between the use of some discourse connectors and grade level?
We expected to find significant qualitative differences in the use of some
connectors related to the late development of language. We thought we would also
find an increasing augmentation in the diversity of connectors and the
establishment of their accurate use related to age.
Therefore, in this research we compared two groups of adolescents from different
educational backgrounds and age ranges (20 participants from 8th grade junior
high, aged fifteen; and 20 high school seniors, aged eighteen), in each participant
we analyzed the use of the discourse connectors in the two different types of
speeches. Our aim was to identify, classify, and compare the evidence of
discourse development shown in these areas.
REFERENCES
Andriessen, J. and Coirier, P. (Eds.) (1999). Foundations of argumentative text
processing. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Gutiérrez-Clellen, V. F., and Igleslas, A. (1992). Causal coherence in the oral
narratives of Spanish-speaking children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research,
35, 363-372.
Nippold, M. A. (1993). Developmental markers in adolescent language: Syntax,
semantics, and pragmatics. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools,
24, 21-28.
Nippold, M.A. (2007). Later Language Development. School-Age Children,
Adolescents and Young Adults. USA: Pro-Ed.
Ravid, D. y Shyldkrot, H (Ed). (2005). Perspectives on Language and Language
Development. USA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
DATA
Examples:
Causal Connectors: They point out which is the reason or the cause that explains what is
said in the first part of the statement or in previous statements. (Caballero and Larrauri,
1996; Calsamiglia and Tusón, 2012; Cuenca, M, 1995; Fernández, G., 2011; Haliday and
Hasan, 1976; Lo Cascio, V., 1998; Martínez, R., 1997; Montolío, E., 2010; Plantin, C., 2005).
Examples of causal connectors in Spanish: porque, pues, ya que, debido a.
Connector “PUES”
HIGHSCHOOL PARTICIPANT:
(37) Rápido Daniel fue y los separó, regañó muy fuerte al señor sapo, la señora tortuga y
Scott se enojaron también con él, pues no estaba bien que se desquitara con una pequeña
ranita.
´Quickly Daniel went and pulled them apart, he scolded Mr.Frog very strongly, Miss
Tortoise and Scott also got mad at Mr.Frog, because/since it wasn´t right of him to
retaliate against a little frog´.
This participant is using the connector accurately, because you can see the relationship of
cause between the first part of the statement and the second part, after the use of the
connector.
JUNIOR HIGH PARTICIPANT
(3256) Al ver qué salió de la caja; era una pequeña ranita, Ariel. La rana mayor, Rubén, se
desagradó mucho, pues ya que sentía celos.
´When he saw what came out of the box; it was a little frog, Ariel. The older frog, Ruben,
got really upset, since as he felt jealousy´.
The participant is mixing the use of two causal connector as if he felt one was not enough
to express the relationship between the two parts of the statement.