A Comparative Study On The Application Of Discourse Markers In English Speeches Of Chinese And American College Students-from The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

English speeches can not only improve students' ability to learn and use English but also help to cultivate students' rigorous logic thinking ability.Therefore,public speaking is particularly important in the process of teaching and learning English.Many universities and colleges offer courses of public speaking to promote the verbal ability of students.Discourse marker(DM),as an essential part of spoken English,plays a very important role in communication.As a common linguistic phenomenon,DM has aroused the attention of many scholars.In this study,the author attempts to probe into the differences and similarities in DMs used by Chinese college students and American college students in English speeches within the framework of relevance theory.The current study selects 47 Chinese college students' speeches and 20 American college students' speeches as research materials.With the assistance of AntConc 3.4.3 and Log-likelihood Calculator,the author analyzes the frequencies of DMs used in the two corpora and how the pragmatic functions of DMs are realized within the framework of relevance theory.The results reveal that:(1)The total frequencies of DMs in two corpora have no significant difference.However,Chinese college students use additional markers,causal markers,temporary markers and stressing markers more frequently than American college students.But compared with American college students,Chinese college students use less equivalent markers in English speeches.The possible reasons may be negative transfer of the first language(L1),avoidance strategy and insufficient language input,etc.(2)The pragmatic functions of DMs in English speeches are mainly reflected in five aspects: drawing audience's attention,reducing the distance between speakers and audiences,giving further explanation,strengthening the force of speech and contradicting existing assumptions.Based on the analysis of selected corpora,it can be seen that Chinese college students mainly use DM so to attract the audience's attention,while American college students prefer to use DMs I mean,so,well,no to achieve the purpose.Besides,Chinese college students just use some common additional markers,such as also,and,still to give further explanations.However,apart from using these additional markers,American college students also use DMs furthermore,moreover,in addition to give further explanations.Chinese college students are inclined to use DMs very,really to strengthen the force of speech.But American college students not only use very,really,but also use completely,no to express speakers' emotion and strengthen the force of speech.Accordingly,the current study suggests English teachers in China pay more attention to comprehensive and authentic input and effective output.Natural language environment should be created to make students acquire DMs and use them appropriately in communication.