Abstract

Discourse markers are seen as one of the fundamental units in spoken discourse due to their frequent and multifunctional use by native speakers of English. Discourse markers also have significance in foreign language instruction. In this respect, this study explored the perceptions of Turkish EFL teachers towards the use of discourse markers in terms of the pragmatic and pedagogic value and their representations in EFL classrooms. To this end, a questionnaire was administered to 104 EFL instructors working at seven different state universities in Turkey. The quantitative analyses of the data yielded that the teachers had positive perceptions towards discourse markers by finding them necessary for improving pragmatic competence of language learners. They also stated that discourse markers had teaching value so they highlighted them in their instruction. Moreover, the study also discussed the integration of discourse markers into language instruction. The study had some implications for further discussion over the issue of discourse markers in terms of investigating teacher talk, real classroom practices during language teaching instruction and teaching materials.

Key words: Discourse markers, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers, spoken discourse.