Discourse Markers in Spontaneous Speech: Oh What a Difference an Oh Makes

Discourse markers are usually studied from the vantage point of corpora analyses. By looking at where they fall in spontaneous talk, hypotheses can be made about their possible functions. However, direct tests of listeners' uses of these expressions are rare. In five experiments, we looked at t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of memory and language 1999-02, Vol.40 (2), p.280-295
Main Authors: Fox Tree, Jean E., Schrock, Josef C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition & reasoning
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Interpersonal communication
Language
Production and perception of spoken language
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
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Summary:Discourse markers are usually studied from the vantage point of corpora analyses. By looking at where they fall in spontaneous talk, hypotheses can be made about their possible functions. However, direct tests of listeners' uses of these expressions are rare. In five experiments, we looked at the on-line spontaneous speech comprehension effects of one discourse marker,oh.We found that recognition of words was faster afterohthan when theohwas either excised and replaced by a pause or excised entirely. We also found that semantic verification of words heard earlier in the discourse was faster afterohthan when theohwas either excised and replaced by a pause or excised entirely, but only when the test point was downstream from theoh.Results demonstrate thatohis not only a potential signal to addressees, as has been suggested by corpora analyses, but that it is in fact used by addressees to help them integrate information in spontaneous talk.
ISSN:0749-596X
1096-0821
DOI:10.1006/jmla.1998.2613