THE USE OF DISCOURSE MARKERS BY PAKISTANI ESL LEARNERS IN THEIREXPLANATORY AND REFLECTIVE ESSAYS

Abstract

Discourse markers are expressions which are equipped “with the primary function of bringing to the reader's
attention a particular kind of linkage of the upcoming utterance with the immediately preceding discourse context.
The researchers, keeping the importance of relevance and coherence in the text in mind, conducted this study to
explore the use of discourse markers in the reflective and explanatory essays written by the undergraduates of The
Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan. The results revealed the type of discourse markers used in both
reflective and explanatory essays. After data analysis the results showedthe most frequent and the least frequent use
of discourse markers in ESL learners‟ writing compositions. From the results, it is evident that the learners used the
discourse markers in explanatoryessays like “and”, “because”, and “for example” most frequentlywhile “despite”,
“on the other hand”, and “contrary” were used least frequently. The highest percentages were 10.76, 9.88, and
7.85 and the lowest percentages were 0.58, 0.87, and 1.16 respectively. In reflective essays they used “also”,
“there”, “therefore” most frequently while “finished”, “at the beginning”, and “at that time” were least frequently
used.The highest percentages were 10.03, 9.34, and 6.92 and the lowest percentages were 0.69, 1.38, and 2.42
respectively. In both types of essays, the most frequently used discourse markers were: „and‟, „because‟, „also‟ and
„there‟ with percentages 10.76, 9.88, 10.03 and 9.34 respectively.