The Effect of Discourse Markers on the Speaking Production of EFL Students

The research aimed at investigating the relationship between discourse markers(DMs) and a special type of conversation which was the IELTS speaking test. Thefollowing research question was addressed in the study. Are IELTS examineesspeaking band pertinent to existence of a greater number of DMs? In order toprovide the research question with a reasonable plausible answer, 6 differentclasses containing 5 to 9 EFL students in upper intermediate level were available,thus selected. All these students were volunteers to participate in IELTS and as aresult were taught to perform in ILETS speaking section. 3 of these classescontaining 17 students were provided with a greater number of DMs than usualwhile others were given the same method of teaching and even the same teacherbut less DMs whenever possible to be considered as control group. As a result, theresearch came up with the finding that, the more DMs are used in IELTS speakingtest, the higher the average score of EFL students’ will be.

Keywords:

Discourse Markers , IELTS speaking