Pragmatic Markers Used by Arab Postgraduate Students in Classroom Oral Presentations

The use of pragmatic markers as an aspect of language competence is necessary to present ideas and facts coherently. These markers mainly modify talk so that talk is comprehensible and meaningful, and help the audience follow the sequence of ideas. Failing to use these markers can negatively affect the audience’s comprehension of the presentation and consequently affect the student’s academic achievement. To this end, this study investigated the pragmatic markers used by Arab students during classroom oral presentations. The study focused on identifying the categories and sub-categories of markers as well as examining their linguistic meaning and pragmatic functions. The data were collected using audio-recordings of students’ oral presentations and were analyzed based on Fraser’s (1996) classification and functions of pragmatic markers. The findings can inform better oral presentation performance of ESL/EFL learners in general and postgraduate students in particular. They add up to the literature of pragmatic discourses.