A Pragmatic Analysis On The Functions Of Discourse Markers Employed In Talk Show

Discourse markers are one of the linguistic phenomena in daily communication, and theyare quite popular in pragmatic study, whose employment can produce certain contextual effectswithout changing the original context of conversation. If the speaker can use discourse markerscorrectly and effectively, his or her pragmatic implications can be transferred and thecommunicative effects are to be made so that the information could be conveyed accurately tothe hearer. It is the same that discourse markers can be used in talk shows by hosts to reachcertain contextual effects.Based on the Relevance Theory, this paper intends to analyze the discourse markers whichare employed in talk shows from pragma-cognitive perspective, and then discusses the pragmaticeffects for talk shows. The research materials are selected from the famous talk show in Americanamed Oprah Winfrey Show, and the thesis first makes an introduction on the researchbackground of discourse markers, Oprah Winfrey and talk show, and then conducts a pragmaticanalysis on all kinds of discourse markers appeared in selected materials, and then concludes thatdifferent kinds of discourser markers have corresponding pragmatic functions. By masteringsuch pragmatic rules, hosts will be more confident to handle the program and communicate withthe guest and audience more fluently; the expected effects can be realized as well.This thesis consists of five parts; the first part is on the objective, purpose and procedure ofthe study. Part two involves literature review on the definition of discourse markers in differentperiods and introduces the personal experiences of Oprah Winfrey and her hosting style. Partthree sets theoretical framework for the following analysis, introduces relevance theory and itstwo principles, the Cognitive Principle and Communicative Principle. Part five is the conclusion,which deals with the major findings of present study as well as the prospect of the further study.