The Effects of Discourse Markers on the Comprehension of Lectureships

Abstract

With greater numbers of non-native speakers of English entering English medium institutions of higher education around the world, the provision of appropriate English language training as a preparation for academic study becomes increasingly important. In the United States, all major universities now offer specialized English language courses for foreign students, dealing with the use of English in such areas as advanced reading, writing term papers, discussion skills, lecture comprehension, and note taking. The growing demand for such courses has led to the need for research into the processes underlying academic performance in a second or foreign language, which can provide input to teacher training as well as to the development of appropriate curriculum and instructional materials. This paper deals with the university lecture and describes a study which was conducted to investigate how different categories of discourse markers affect how well foreign students understand university lectures.