2 authors: Eman Awni Ali University of Jordan 7

The variety of contrastive markers

The least frequently employed category of DMs in the intermediate learners’ written data was the contrastive markers. This category of DMs signals a relationship of contrast between adjacent discourse segments. Table 6 presents the occurrences of the contrastive markers in expository essays written by the advanced and intermediate learners.
The results reveal that the DM ‘but’ accounted for a ratio of 92% of the entire set of contrastive markers used by the intermediate EFL learners. The extreme reliance on the DM ‘but’ is reported by Martinez (2004), Vickoυ and Djiunoυić (2011) and Asassfeh, et al., (2013). The contrastive markers (but, on the other hand and while) constituted the entire set of contrastive DMs in the intermediate learners’ data. Example (9) illustrates the use of contrastive markers by the intermediate learners.

9. 
   I am studying in the University of Jordan, I love the university, but I’m having some problems… in the end I would like to say that every student has a problem, but it’s nice to have cooperation between students and teachers. (Intermediate)
   

The advanced EFL learners, on the other hand, employed a varied set of contrastive DMs in their essays. The contrastive DMs (but, however and instead of) were the mostly frequently used in the advanced learners’ data. Other instances of contrastive markers in the advanced learners’ essays include (although, despite (of), even though, nonetheless, rather, still, though and while).

10. 
    Even though the University of Jordan is considered as the best university in Jordan, its students face many problems. (Advanced)
    
11. 
    The University of Jordan has been historically well-respected by its academic achievement. Nonetheless, there are many problems abstracting the path of success. (Advanced)
    

5. 
   The variety of spoken markers
   

Spoken DMs generally serve the functions of facilitating closeness between participants and marking shared knowledge and attitudes. Employing spoken markers in academic essays is, therefore, considered pragmatically inappropriate. Despite the fact that spoken DMs were employed in the advanced and intermediate EFL learners’ data, this category of DMs had a slightly higher ratio of use in the intermediate learners’ essays. Table 7 presents the number of occurrences of spoken markers in academic essays written by the advanced and intermediate learners.
The analysis reveals that the DMs (I think and in my opinion) accounted for a ratio of 80.7% of the entire set of the spoken markers used by the intermediate EFL learners. A similar result is reported by Unaldi (2013) who identifies the DMs (I think and in my opinion) as distinctive features of speech contexts. Accordingly, the researcher conducted a study to investigate the use of these markers in academic essays and found that intermediate EFL learners overused these markers in comparison to native speakers of English. Examples (12-13) include instances of the use of these markers in the intermediate learners’ writings.

12. 
    I think my university has a lot of problems such as the services, security and the doctors. I think this problem can solve by make deal with company of service. (Intermediate)
    
13. 
    In my opinion the problem the University of Jordan is racism in the body and some doctors have very hard exams. (Intermediate)
    

In comparison to the intermediate EFL learners, the advanced learners used a varied set of spoken DMs in their essays. This might be attributed to the fact that the advanced EFL learners are exposed to a more varied set of spoken markers and thus they employed a variety of spoken markers in their essays. The intermediate learners, on the other hand, relied heavily on the DMs (I think and in my opinion) to compensate for their unfamiliarity with a varied set of spoken markers
The DM ‘I think’ was the most frequently employed spoken DM in the advanced learners’ data and it accounted for a ratio of 28.6% of the occurrences of spoken markers. Examples of spoken markers that were used only by the advanced learners include (actually, from my aspect, from my point of view, indeed, like and of course). Examples (14-15) illustrate the use of spoken markers by the advanced EFL learners.

14.