Abstract
The present study investigates the use of discourse markers by Japanese learners of English and native English speakers. In order to detect quantitative differences in the distribution of pragmatic devices between non-native and native speakers, the present analysis is based on multiple comparisons of three corpora: a spoken corpus of Japanese learners of English, and the adult and child speech data of native English speakers. Results of this study suggest that the diversity and quantity of markers in speech increase as Japanese learners' proficiency improves, and that, in particular, learners' language development has an effect on the frequency of markers such as you know and well, which are used on an interpersonal level. Similarly, with increasing age, native speakers are found to use a wider variety of markers on interpersonal and cognitive levels. However, the results also indicate that there is a substantial discrepancy in the distribution and development of discourse markers between Japanese learners and native speakers of English. Overall, Japanese learners are found to use discourse markers less frequently than native children and adults, but they tend to overuse certain markers such as so and OK/okay. Some features of the development of discourse markers are discussed through these results.
