Comparative Study of Using Speech-like Pragmatic Markers in Essays Written by Iranian TEFL Students and Native English-Speaking Students

In this study, the use of Pragmatic Markers in the written essays of Iranian learners of Teaching English as foreign language (TEFL) was investigated. To examine the learners’ use of speech- like pragmatic markers when writing an academic essay, samples of Iranian students` and native English-speaking speakers’ argumentative essays were analyzed using the methodology called Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis (CIA). Moreover, the overuse or underuse of such items is compared between native English-speaking speakers and Iranian TEFL learners. Native English Data were collected from Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays (LOCNESS) and non-native English data was gathered from Iranian students` essays during a semester. A frequency analysis of pragmatic markers indicates significant differences between Iranian learners’ and native English-speaking speakers’ writing, supporting earlier outcomes. Quantitative analyses of the non-native corpus data revealed that learners apply spoken components in their argumentative essays, which may adversely affect their text in terms of a correct style and tone. The results recommend the need for language teachers and materials writers to recognize the features of Iranian learners’ interlanguage and to provide them with appropriately intended pragmatic markers input.