Pedro Gras (Universiteit Antwerpen)
The acquisition of discourse markers in oral narratives by Spanish L2 learners: methodological considerations
Spanish discourse markers have been subject of interest of numerous studies that have tackled with their analysis from both a descriptive and empirical perspective (Martín Zorraquino and Montolío 1999, Loureda and Acín 2011, Santos Río 2001, Fuentes 2009, Briz, Pons and Portolés 2008). The field of Spanish language teaching is no exception: there seems to be a general consensus that mastery of discourse markers (henceforth DMs) is a prerequisite for achieving communicative competence.
However, there are still two important gaps in the study of DMs in L2 Spanish. On the one hand, although numerous proposals have been put forward for the FL classroom, there are still few studies addressing the acquisition of DMs in L2 Spanish. On the other hand, both didactic and acquisition works have based almost exclusively on Martin Zorraquino and Portolés’ work, leaving out specific aspects not contemplated in their proposal.
Namely, their typology establishes an implicit division between typically interactional markers (e.g. bueno; Eng.=well) and those that prototypically occur in written expository-argumentative sequences (e.g. en primer lugar; Eng.=first; sin embargo; Eng. however; en otras palabras; Eng.=in other words). Markers that occur in other text typologies, such as, for instance, unplanned oral narratives are not included in this typology. In these texts, speakers resort to markers that indicate thematic or chronological advances (e.g. nada ‘nothing’ or total ‘total’; Eng.=anyway), which are not included in the most popular classifications. The proposal of Martín Zorraquino & Portolés (1999) is therefore insufficient to fully explain the nature of these markers, and/or to guide the teaching of certain discourse genres, such as oral narratives.
This work aims to contribute to the above-described debate through the analysis of the DMs produced in the oral narratives by intermediate Spanish learners as compared with native speakers. Our ultimate goal is, then, to examine the use of these markers in L2 Spanish, taking native speakers as a reference for analyzing non-native texts. From the differences and trends observed for both L1 and L2 production we will eventually be able to obtain valuable insights for the teaching of FL Spanish.
- Briz, A., S. Pons and J. Portolés (eds.). 2008. Diccionario de partículas discursivas del español. Online: http://www.dpde.es/#/
- Fuentes, C. 2009. Diccionario de conectores y operadores del español. Madrid: Arco.
- Loureda, Ó. and E. Acín (eds.) 2010. Los estudios sobre marcadores del discurso, hoy. Madrid: Arco.
- Martín Zorraquino, M. A. & J. Portolés. 1999. Los marcadores del discurso. In Bosque, I. & Demonte, V. (eds.) Gramática descriptiva de la lengua española. Madrid: Espasa.
- Martín Zorraquino, M. A. & E. Montolío (eds.) 1999. Los marcadores del discurso: teoría y análisis. Madrid: Arco.
- Santos Río, L. 2003. Diccionario de partículas. Salamanca: Luso-Española de Ediciones.
Biodata
Pedro Gras holds a PhD in Spanish Linguistics from the University of Barcelona. Currently he is an assistant professor of Spanish Linguistics at the University of Antwerp. His main research interests are Construction Grammar, Interactional Linguistics and insubordination. He is particularly interested in the pragmatic aspects of grammatical constructions.