An Analysis of Discourse Markers in Textbook Dialogues

This paper analyzes discourse markers (DMs) in dialogues of foreign and domestic Business English textbooks. The results show that although there are similarities in the use of discourse markers, the two domestic textbooks observed have almost a complete absence of the use of so, otherwise a very common feature of dialogues in foreign textbooks. The article then discusses the reasons and points out the implications for language teachers and writers of language teaching materials.