The Use of Discourse Markers in Jordanian Spoken Arabic

Abstract

This corpus-driven study analyzes the use of discourse markers in conversations between 14 native speakers of Jordanian Spoken Arabic (JSA). The data are collected from one Jordanian talk show, namely Caravan. This show is chosen because it is based on live conversations between a group of males and females in their twenties and thirties. The study aims at identifying the discourse markers that are used in the targeted conversations and examining the pragmatic functions that are performed by each discourse marker. The results revealed the subjects relied heavily on various multifunctional discourse markers to fulfill a wide range of pragmatic functions on the textual, interpersonal and cognitive levels of discourse.