The Effect of Explicit Instruction of Discourse Markers on the Quality of Oral Output

The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect of explicit vs. implicit instruction of discourse markers (DMs hereafter) on learners’ oral production. To this end, 40 Iranian adult EFL learners (including both males and females) with the age range of 23 to 30 years of age were randomly selected. The sample was randomly divided into two equal groups with 20 members. The control group attending the speaking course received no explicit instruction on DMs, while participants in the experimental group attending the same course, received an explicit treatment on DMs. The experimental group received five sessions of explicit instruction on DMs, consuming 20 minutes of the class time. The data required for the study was collected through semi-structure interview with the participants of the study who spoke on similar topics. Results indicate that the participants in the control group who were exposed to implicit way of teaching discourse markers did not show to use discourse markers frequently. In contrast, the learners in the experimental group who received explicit instruction on discourse markers proved that they used discourse markers frequently in their speech. The final conclusion is that explicit teaching of discourse markers to learners in the experimental group was useful.