Discourse markers are words or short phrases that don’t contribute directly—in a semantic sense—to the meaning of a sentence, but instead contribute pragmatic or attitudinal information.

Discourse Studies is an international peer-reviewed journal for the study of text and talk. Publishing outstanding work on the structures and strategies of written and spoken discourse, special ...

Without discourse markers, which also include so and indeed, we’d have a tougher time understanding each other. These insubstantial-seeming words are vital to the job of communication.

Discourse markers are words or short phrases that don’t contribute directly—in a semantic sense—to the meaning of a sentence, but instead contribute pragmatic or attitudinal information.

This paper measures the effect of the presence or absence of discourse markers such as so, right, well, OK, and now on second language lecture comprehension. A control group viewed a video recording ...

Discourse relations—both explicit, as marked by connectives and cue phrases, and implicit through juxtaposed text segments—are integral to the coherent interpretation and processing of language.