A Corpus-based Study Of The Pragmatic Functions Of The DM You See From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

As one of the most common linguistic phenomena in social interactions,discourse markers(hereafter DMs)are often regarded as information markers which facilitate or constrain the hearer's interpretation towards the speaker's utterance,DMs have been always one of the research objects at home and abroad in recent years.However,you see,as a frequently used linguistic expression,has not been paid much attention.This thesis focuses on the use of you see and studies its pragmatic functions from the perspective of Relevance Theory.Based on Spoken English Corpus of Chinese Learners(hereafter SECCL),this thesis tries to explore DMs you see used by Chinese English majors in TEM4.Two research questions in this thesis are as follows:(1)What are the features of the DMs you see used by the Chinese English majors in the light of utilization of frequencies,collocations and positions?(2)What are the pragmatic functions of the DMs you see used by the Chinese English majors?Through quantitative and qualitative analysis,the major findings in this thesis are observed.Firstly,as for the overall frequencies of the discourse marker(hereafter DM)you see,the linguistic form you see appears 449 times but only 214 forms of you see can be regarded as DMs.As for the positions of DMs you see in SECCL,it is found in the initial,middle and final position of an utterance.The most DMs you see are found in the middle position of an utterance.At last,as for the collocations,you see often appears together with other words in an utterance.The most widely used collocation of DMs you see is but you see which usually functions as a reminding marker or an information-supplement marker.Secondly,under the framework of Relevance Theory,five pragmatic functions of DMs you see in SECCL are examined in this thesis.DMs you see can be employed as a reminding marker,an information-supplement,a sum-up marker,a waiting-response marker and a delaying marker.As a reminding marker,the speaker tends to remind the hearer of shared information and then the hearer can achieve the relevance in a conversation.As an information-supplement marker,the speaker provides the supplementary information that promotes the hearer's understanding of an utterance.As a sum-up marker,the speaker provides the concluding information by using DM you see.As a waiting-response marker,the speaker uses DM you see to wait for a response from the hearer.As a delaying marker,the speaker tends to use DM you see to pause and contemplate in the conversation.Besides,the implications for English as a Foreign Language(hereafter EFL)students and Chinese English teachers are introduced.This thesis tries to give a detailed study on DMs you see used by Chinese English majors.Theoretically,this thesis may enrich the studies of DM you see and provide more research materials in discourse analysis.Practically,the author hopes that this thesis can help second language learners who are in oral tests.And Chinese English teachers are also suggested to raise their students' awareness of using DMs.