Pragmatic and discourse markers used by Malay and Arab postgraduates students during classroom oral presentations

As part of their postgraduate courses in Malaysian universities, Arab and Malaysian students have to present their assignments and projects orally in front of their professors. For effective and smooth conceptualization of the presented ideas and facts, students need to employ certain language elements called pragmatic markers (PMs) and discourse markers (DMs). In such institutional discourse, the use of these markers can help students to present their ideas and facts smoothly and coherently, and in a close connection to the context of the presentations. These markers are, in fact, valuable tools in the hands of learners to structure and organize the segments of their speech, make the content of the presentation comprehensible and meaningful, and help their audiences follow the sequence of ideas. Failing to use these markers properly can negatively affect the audience’s comprehension of the presented material and consequently affect the students’ achievement. This thesis sought to investigate the use of DMs and PMs by two diverse cultural groups (Arab and Malay) during their oral presentations. The focus of the investigation was on identifying the frequencies of the types and functions of these markers realized in these students’ spoken discourse. Besides, the thesis attempted to determine and explain the differences in usage between the two groups of students and whether they give rise to problems for the students or the audience. For these purposes, the current thesis used pragmatic discourse analysis in which the data were collected qualitatively in the form of audio-recorded presentations and then analyzed in a mixed mode design using descriptive and analytical approaches. The recorded data were transcribed and then analyzed based on Fraser’s (2009) framework for the PMs and Fraser’s (1996) framework of DMs. The findings of this study showed that there were clear quantitative and qualitative differences between the Arab and Malay students in using these markers. While the Arab students tended to use more PMs that reflected their attitude, stance, feeling, and other interpersonal relationships with the audience, the Malay students tended to use more DMs that contributed to the coherence of their spoken discourse. These differences indicated that the use of these markers is dependent on the type of cultural group. Further, the findings showed that both groups of students face a number of usage problems, such as the interference of the first language, limited lexicon repertoire of these markers, limited awareness of the functions achieved by the use of these markers, and transfer from written register that affected the quality of their oral presentations. The findings contributed to better understanding of how speakers of diverse cultural background possess different linguistic and pragmatic resources that realize different output of oral presentations. These findings would inform better oral presentation performance of ESL/EFL learners in general and postgraduate students in specific. They will also add to the current body of literature in the area of discourse research.

Text 114242.pdf Download (1MB) Official URL or Download Paper: http://ethesis.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/18138

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