The Situation of Discourse: Evidence from Discourse Markers

One of the main problems associated with research on discourse markers concerns their meaning. A large body of rich analyses has been presented, based on a range of different frameworks, such as conversation analysis, relevance theory, cognitive linguistics, or grammaticalization theory, to deal with the complexity of functions that discourse markers exhibit. The goal of the present paper is restricted in scope. Based on a comparative survey of 24 English information units that have been classified as discourse markers, it uses the framework of Discourse Grammar to relate the functions of these markers to the situation of discourse. The findings presented suggest on the one hand that these functions can be reduced essentially to a network of three components, namely the organization of texts, the attitudes of the speaker, and speaker-hearer interaction. On the other hand, they also suggest that it is the planning and structuring of texts that is the primary concern of speakers when they draw on discourse markers. But designing texts does not appear to be a means to an end; rather it serves the interlocutors to achieve their communicative goals in what they conceive to be the best way possible.