DISCOURSE MARKERS – CONNECTORS
The word discourse is used to refer to a piece or unit of writing or speech that is longer than, respectively, a sentence or an utterance. In writing, especially academic writing, it is essential for the author to guide the reader through the discourse signalling what is important and how each sentence connects to others. Readers who have to “work” too hard to understand where to focus their attention and to link together the concepts presented in the writing do not have enough mental energy to process the author’s ideas and to remember them after having finished reading. One of the main ways that authors help guide readers through discourse is by “marking” how the coming sentence or clause (
NB
discourse markers generally come
at the beginning
of clauses and sentences) relates back to previous discourse. Thus if the author wants to show a continuation of a previous line of thought, s/he will begin the coming sentence with a marker such as
in addition
or
moreover
. This automatically helps the reader to approach the coming sentence with the knowledge of how it relates to the theme the author is constructing (i.e. this is another sentence in support of an idea previously posited). If, on the other hand, the author wants to signal a change in direction of the discourse, s/he will utilize a marker such as
on the other hand
or
conversely
(now go back to the beginning of this sentence and note how the phrase
on the other hand
prepared you to understand that the sentence would pose an idea in opposition to the previously presented idea of
supporting a previous theme,
replaced by the concept of
contrasting a previous theme
). It isn’t easy to present a complete list of discourse markers and their various functions. There are many of them, and, perhaps even more importantly, some of them are used more in speech than in writing, or vice versa or some of them are more informally used than formally and so on and so on. The best way to understand an effective use of discourse markers (which, remember, is essential for academic writing!) is to read a lot. However, reading without paying special attentions to discourse markers may be somewhat helpful, but not completely. You must take a step back from the reading process in order to pick out and notice how the author is employing discourse markers and what they add to the reading experience. In this way, you can begin to develop both a conscious and unconscious knowledge of how to use them yourself. What’s important is NOT to simply throw discourse markers haphazardly into your writing. This is the case, for example, of learners who remember suddenly, “oh yeah, I’m supposed to be using those discourse markers” and then arbitrarily write one of the common ones remembered at the moment (indeed, for some unknown reason, Italian students love
moreover
and use it constantly, often when it’s not appropriate). I have compiled some lists of discourse markers for you to look at and study, and to keep close at hand when you are writing. While it is obvious that you may develop a preference for certain discourse markers, you should try to vary them, especially now as you are learning to write academic English. You are in the process of learning and developing a writing style and so if you limit yourself to the use of just a few discourse markers now, you will inevitably continue to develop a style which is more limited and less versatile. Below you will find 3 separate lists and/or tables which show discourse markers, their functions, grammatical definitions and some examples. I have decided to include all three, even if this means that there are repetitions, in order to show you how different people might look at discourse markers differently. In other words, these are not mathematical formulas but rather expressions which may be interpreted and utilized in slightly different ways by different authors. You may find that one list or table in particular appeals to you in its presentation, explanation and organization. Or you may vary between them without a