MANAGING COHERENCE AND FLUENCY THROUGH DISCOURSE MARKERS IN UNIVERSITY EFL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ORAL PRESENTATIONS: A PRAGMATIC DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24127/pj.v15i2.15482Keywords:
discourse markers, pragmatic competence, coherence, fluency, EFL oral presentationsAbstract
EFL university students frequently struggle to maintain coherence and fluency simultaneously during academic oral presentations, yet the pragmatic role of discourse markers in addressing this challenge remains underexplored in the Indonesian EFL context. This study investigated the types of discourse markers employed by EFL students, their pragmatic functions in supporting discourse coherence, and their contribution to fluency maintenance during academic oral presentations. A qualitative descriptive design was employed, applying Pragmatic Discourse Analysis as the analytical framework, drawing on the theoretical foundations of (Fraser, 1990) and (Schiffrin, 1987). The participants were 14 fifth-semester undergraduate students of the English Language Education Program at Universitas Islam Darul Ulum (UNISDA), Lamongan, Indonesia, at an intermediate level of English proficiency. Data were collected through audio recording and verbatim transcription of classroom presentations, using a researcher-developed Discourse Marker Identification Checklist and Coding Scheme. Data were analyzed through systematic identification, classification, and pragmatic interpretation across all transcripts. The findings revealed five functional categories: additive (31.19%), causal (21.56%), sequential (17.43%), elaborative (16.51%), and contrastive (13.30%), across 218 total instances. These markers functioned to organize discourse structure, signal logical relationships, and sustain speech fluency simultaneously. A key limitation is the small, institution-specific sample. The study concludes that discourse markers serve as integrative pragmatic devices managing coherence and fluency concurrently. EFL educators should integrate explicit instruction on all five discourse marker categories into academic speaking curricula. While future research should expand to larger, multi-institutional samples using mixed-method designs.
References
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. SAGE Publications.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2018). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (5th ed.). SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781506326133
Du, X. (2025). Discourse markers in EFL academic speaking. System, 115, 103018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2024.103018
Fraser, B. (2020). An approach to discourse markers. Journal of Pragmatics.
Huda, K. (2019). Pragmatic competence in EFL academic speaking contexts. EduLITIC Journal.
Ishihara, N., & Cohen, A. D. (2021). Teaching and learning pragmatics: Where language and culture meet. Routledge.
Kang, O., & Kim, Y. (2022). Fluency and coherence in second language academic speaking. Applied Linguistics Review.
Khulel, B. (2021a). Developing pragmatic awareness in EFL speaking classrooms. Bliss Journal.
Khulel, B. (2021b). Pragmatic awareness in EFL speaking. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 11(2), 345–356. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v11i2.34678
Lee, J. (2023). Pragmatic competence and academic oral communication. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 61, 101110.
Mohamad, A., Rahman, S. A., & Yusoff, M. A. (2025). Pragmatic markers in academic speaking. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 62, 101192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2024.101192
Müller, S. (2021). Discourse markers in spoken interaction. Pragmatics and Society, 12(2), 211–229.
Omisakin, Y., Adeyemi, O., & Bello, T. (2024). Discourse markers in EFL oral presentations. Journal of Pragmatics, 214, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2023.12.004
Ren, W. (2022a). Pragmatic competence and spoken discourse organization. System, 108, 102842.
Ren, W. (2022b). Pragmatic competence in second language learning. Journal of Pragmatics, 187, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.11.003
Saito, K., Dewaele, J.-M., Abe, M., & In’nami, Y. (2021a). Approaches to second language oral fluency development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 43(2), 302–330. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263120000541
Saito, K., Dewaele, J.-M., Abe, M., & In’nami, Y. (2021b). Motivation, fluency, and second language speech development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 43(2), 355–380.
Schiffrin, D. (1987). Discourse markers. Cambridge University Press.
Sharma, V. (2024). Grammar and vocabulary mastery in EFL speaking. Journal of Language Education, 14(1), 22–35.
Suryadi, S., Muhyidin, A., Syafrizal, S., & Erlangga, F. (2024). Improving students’ speaking skills through learning media and the mastery of different discourse markers. IJORER: International Journal of Recent Educational Research, 5(2), 504–522. https://doi.org/10.46245/ijorer.v5i2.576
Taguchi, N., & Roever, C. (2017). Second language pragmatics. Oxford University Press.
Tavakoli, P., & Uchihara, T. (2020a). Fluency development in second language speaking. Language Learning, 70(S1), 153–190.
Tavakoli, P., & Uchihara, T. (2020b). To what extent are L2 learners’ oral fluency measures invariant across tasks? Applied Linguistics, 41(6), 858–884. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amz014
Wulandari, O. P., Zahro, S. K., & Huda, K. (2025). Investigating student perceptions of Blooket to enhancing vocabulary mastery in senior high school. Bliss Journal : Broadening Linguistics, Literature, Education, and Study of Learning Media, 01(01), 46–58. https://e-jurnal.unisda.ac.id/index.php/BlissJournal/article/view/9360
Zhang, L. (2022). Coherence in academic speaking. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 56, 101087.
Zhang, L., & Dai, W. (2021). Discourse markers and academic oral presentations. Journal of Pragmatics, 178, 1–14.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with Premise: Journal of English Education and Applied Linguistics agree to the following terms:
Creative Commons License
Premise: Journal of English Education and Applied Linguistics is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. The premise offers all authors of journal articles their research openly available, free access, and time restrictions.
All articles published Open Access will be immediately and permanently free for everyone to read and download. Under the CC-BY license, authors retain ownership of the copyright for their article, but authors permit others to use the content of publications in Premise in whole or in part provided that the original work is properly cited. Users (redistributors) of Premise are required to cite the original source, including the author's name, Premise as the initial source of publication, year of publication, volume, number, article page and DOI.
