By Ruth Oji

IN addition to the discourse markers discussed last week, there are several more to be pointed out this week. As earlier highlighted, discourse markers are words and expressions used to show how discourse is connected. They can show the connection between what a speaker is saying and what has already been said, or what is going to be said. Additionally, they can help to make clear the structure of what is being said and indicate what speakers think about what they are saying or what others have said.

Sometimes during discourse, you may go off a point and try to return to it afterwards. When that happens, you only need discourse markers that exemplify your intention – examples include ‘as I was saying’, and ‘to return to the previous point’. Consider the following sentence examples (they’re better understood in the context of a discourse though): 1. We shouldn’t be accepting these kinds of conditions for our services. To return to the previous point I was making, I’d like to encourage us all to be courageous and forthright with our stance on the issue of neutrality in this matter. 2. Do you know that Becky came here crying and wouldn’t be consoled? – Hey! Take that baby out of there! As I was saying, Becky had a terrible experience, and she was inconsolable…

You can tell that this last example of the discourse marker is apt for informal contexts. Now, how about when you need to structure your discourse for a formal context? What discourse markers might you deploy? There are several of them. The following can suffice: ‘first(ly)’, ‘second(ly)’, ‘third(ly)’, (endeavour not to go beyond third(ly)), ‘lastly’, ‘finally’, ‘to start with’, ‘in the first/second/third place’, ‘for one thing’, ‘for another thing’, and ‘to begin’.

Apart from structuring your discourse, you may at times want to dismiss previous discourse. This you can achieve using discourse markers such as ‘at least’, ‘at any rate’, ‘in any case’, and ‘anyway’. (Please note that ‘any way’ is different from ‘anyway’. The former means ‘by any method’) 

Imagine this dialogue between two friends:

A: I can’t believe things are so expensive the way they are nowadays!

B: At least we’re up and alive. That’s a lot to be grateful for.

A: I know, right?

‘Anyway, ‘at any rate’, ‘anyhow’ and ‘in any case’ can be used in informal contexts to suggest that what was said before does not matter. Consider the following example: ‘You didn’t live up to your promise to stay positive. Anyway, I’m confident that you’ll good use of this last chance you are being given.’

Are there times in your discourse that you need to generalise the point being made or tell how truea generalisation is? You might also want to state the extent of the generalisation. Markers to serve you include the following: ‘by and large’, ‘to a great/large extent’, ‘on the whole (some would prefer ‘overall’)’, ‘broadly speaking’, ‘in general’, and ‘in most cases’.Also, to show exceptions to the generalisations, you could use ‘apart from’ and ‘except for’. Can we try some sentences with these markers? Let’s do it! 

1. By and large, I’m super impressed by the organisational prowess I witnessed here today.

2. To a large extent, women take care of themselves as they grow older.

3. On the whole, intermittent fasting does a great deal of good to the body but not to lactating moms.

4. Broadly speaking, women in leadership positions are assertive. 

5. In general, digital natives and digital immigrants are on two separate divides. 

6. In most cases, two-year-olds and above throw tantrums the most.

7. Apart from the unfortunate news of an ill-informed decision I was told about yesterday, my day went well.

8. Except for Vicky’s intervention, I would have looked unkempt at the meeting yesterday.

There you go! Let’s have you use these markers in your sentence construction.

Are there more discourse markers to examine? You can be sure of that!  Read on, please. What markers do you use when the intention is to soften or correct things? When you want to express your opinion, do you sometimes worry about not coming across as dogmatic? If so, then use markers such as ‘I think’, ‘I feel’, ‘I reckon’, and ‘I guess’. You could also use ‘in my opinion’ or ‘in my view’. Why are these markers useful? Your listener would likely see that you’re not asking that they accept your point of view but that you’re simply expressing your opinion, which anyone could contend with.  Can you think of sentence examples using these markers? Good. Write them down and practice using them in your speaking interactions to soften the ground.

How about when you need to correct or not hold too strongly an opinion you previously held? Try using ‘that is to say’ or ‘at least’. See these examples: 1. Life’s tough here. At least, I’ve never experienced it nice at all. 2. I won’t ever visit you again. Well, that’s to say, unless you take this dog out of here!

‘I’m afraid’ is apologetic and can be used to introduce a polite refusal or bad news; for example, ‘I’m afraid I can’t be of help to you. I’m saddled with a lot now’, or ‘I’m afraid I didn’t say the truth earlier on. I’m sorry.’

Use ‘I suppose’ when you would like to make a polite enquiry but do want a positive response, for example, ‘I suppose you’re only very busy just at the moment?’ And someone who simply wants to grant an unwilling agreement could use ‘I suppose’ too, for example, in response to one who needs their time for a moment. Such one could respond, ‘I suppose so’. 

Alright. Has it ever happened to you during your interaction that you tried to gain some time while processing what to say next? There are discourse markers or fillers to help you achieve that. They include ‘let me see’, ‘let’s see’, ‘well’, ‘you know’, ‘I don’t know’, ‘I mean’, ‘kind of’, and ‘sort of’. Funnily enough, sometimes a string of these fillers is used at once to gain time. Imagine responding to someone who puts you on the spot regarding your choice of say, a marriage mate. Probably, you had once condemned that individual who’s now your spouse and said all the negative things about them like ‘they’re too short and ugly’. That could topple you, couldn’t it? A typical response could go like this: ‘Well, you know, I don’t know. Really, I mean, it just kind of happened so fast.’  This has been so interesting, hasn’t it. Then let’s have a part III to discourse markers next week. Stay tuned!

•Dr. Oji is a Senior Lecturer of English at the Institute of Humanities, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos