A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON TEACHING DISCOURSE MARKERS OH AND WELL

Abstract

The study aimed at exploring if students received explicit teaching in two discourse markers oh and well could use them more frequently and more correctly than those who did not receive explicit teaching. This study followed the quasi-experimental design. Each experimental group (who experienced five lessons about oh and well) and control group included eight high-intermediate students of an English center in Hanoi. Data were obtained via pretests and posttests, videotapes of the lessons and unstructured observation. The data showed that students in the experimental group could use well more effectively than those in the control group. They mostly used well as an indication of difficult situations and as a filler word. However, students in the experimental group did not use oh more effectively than those in the control group. This finding could lead to an interesting implication that some discourse markers such as well need explicit teaching, while other discourse markers do not. In teaching discourse markers, teachers were suggested to use specific requirements and situations to control students in using discourse markers since sometimes they paid more significant attention to the discourse content than markers. Finally, it was revealed that students of higher English competency could acquire to use discourse markers more quickly than those of lower level.