A corpus-based study of the filler so in the speech of Estonian EFL learners

Abstract

Discourse markers (DMs) in speech have been extensively researched, particularly since the late twentieth century, with growing focus on DMs in learner language in recent decades. However, filler words in learner language have not been as vastly researched and thus, this thesis at hand aims to address this gap by contributing to a few studies made in Estonia so far. The thesis focuses primarily on the use of the filler so in the speech of Estonian learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and native English speakers utilizing the Estonian subcorpus of the Louvain International Database of Spoken English Interlanguage (LINDSEI-EST) and the Louvain Corpus of Native English Conversation (LOCNEC). Additionally, it aims to analyse whether so is used more as a filler, a conjunction or an adverb between the two groups. The introduction part of the thesis introduces the topic and corpora at hand, states the two research questions and gives an overview of all the sections of the thesis. The first part is concerned with previous studies conducted on both discourse markers and fillers in speech and how so functions as a filler, a conjunction and an adverb. The empirical section of the thesis gives an overview of the methodology, the corpora used in the study and analyses the use of so. The last part of the thesis discusses the findings based on the results gathered from the data. The conclusion answers the two research questions presented in the introduction and suggests possibilities for further research in similar field of study.