A final look at discourse markers
I’m going to consider several discourse markers in this final post. Remember, discourse markers are those often unnoticed words at the “margins” of our conversation. But as Anne Curzan, linguistics professor at the University of Michigan, points out, these little words are far from meaningless. Or, at least, most of the time. I’ll also discuss how we sometimes overuse them, and how to avoid that.
Now and OK, like so, are attention-getters and topic-shifters. We often use now and OK to start a new train of thought or draw attention to something important.
Lecturer: Now, let’s consider different ways we can use discourse markers in speech.
Teacher: OK, let’s turn to page 49 in the textbook.
Now also serves an important function by introducing warnings or a reversal of a previous position. For example:
Parent: Now, be sure not to talk to any strangers.
Speaker: Now, there’s a problem with that argument. Let’s see what this other author has to say.
Um, like well and now. is often used to introduce a new topic. On the TOEFL, you’ll often hear lecturers begin their remarks with um. And, like well, um is also used to begin what Curzan calls “a dispreferred response” … when we say something we’re not sure our listener will like. For example:
Speaker: Um, I’m not sure you’re correct about that.
I mean is often used to clarify or adjust a previous statement. For example:
Speaker: I usually don’t eat meat. I mean, I’ll have it on special occasions but not every day.
It can also be used to equalize our relationship with our listener … in a way, it lessens our authority.
Supervisor: I think your report needs some revision. I mean, it’s basically really good, but there are a few points you need to clarify.
Two discourse markers that are often overused are you know and like.
You know is a phrase that, by including you, invites our listener to participate with us. While I mean focuses on what you, the speaker are talking about, you know establishes your relationship with your listener. While this is generally a good thing in conversation, using you know too often can distract and even annoy your listener.
Like is another frequently (maybe too frequently) used discourse marker, especially by American young people. It can focus the listener’s attention on something we’re talking about, but it can also be a very repetitive filler word. Like is also being used more frequently to introduce reported speech (someone else’s words) in spoken English. For example:
Speaker: So my girlfriend was like you should have gotten me a birthday present. And I was like well I didn’t have the money. And she was like well at least you could’ve given me a card.
As a speaking rater of TOEFL, I’m also hearing actually being used more and more as a discourse marker. Speakers seem to be using it as a clarifier or an intensifier. It has the same general meaning of in fact (another discourse marker) and is sometimes used in combination with it.
Speaker: Actually, I think this is a really good idea.
Speaker: The man says he doesn’t agree with this plan, in fact, actually, he’s quite unhappy about it.
Again, actually is a discourse marker that can easily be overused. I have heard some speakers use it five or six times in the course of a minute, and that’s too much!
So when it comes to overusing discourse markers, how do we know how much is too much? I think the bottom line is … does your listener notice them? Discourse markers help shape our conversation and provide signals to our listeners, but they shouldn’t draw attention to themselves. When you use them properly, your listener won’t pay any attention to them.
As I said in a previous post, the best way to spot “discourse marker overuse” is to listen to a recording of your speech. Or you might ask someone who listens to you regularly. When I was a teenager, I used to overuse you know. Eventually, my mother started clearing her throat (ahhh-hem), every time I said you know. At the time, I was very annoyed with her, but it ended up being a very effective solution! 🙂
