VARIATIONS IN THE USE OF DISCOURSE MARKERS IN NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SHORT STORIES

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate how discourse markers (DMs) function in both native and non-native English short stories. In addition to serving as cohesive devices, DMs convey pragmatic and semantic meanings that are present in both spoken and written language. Comparatively highlighting the variations in DM roles between native and non-native English short stories is the main goal of this study. Fung's (2003) multi-categorical comprehensive framework of DMs has been utilized in the study. DMs are divided into interpersonal, cognitive, structural, and referential categories by the framework. These broad categories have been further broken down into numerous DM subgroups. The current study identifies various functional DMs and contrasts them based on their quantitative and qualitative usage differences, all within the framework of this extensive investigation. The study uses both qualitative and quantitative research approaches.  Two English short stories serve as the basis for the data collected for this study. American writer Edger Allen Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart" is the first short tale, and Pakistani writer Hanif Qureshi's "My Son The Fanatic" is the second. There are four different kinds of discourse markers that can be used while analyzing qualitative data to guarantee the validity of the findings. It is anticipated that the study's conclusions would shed light on the textual variations between native and non-native English short stories.