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Title :

The Categorisation of Discourse Markers in the Dissertation Writings of UniMaid Students

Authors :

Fatima Ibrahim Gafai, Abdulhakim Saidu

This study investigates the categorization of discourse markers in the Master's (MA) dissertation writings of postgraduate students of University of Maiduguri. Discourse markers, including cohesive markers, interactive markers, mood and evaluative markers, play a crucial role in academic writing by providing coherence and cohesion. This paper employs Fraser’s (2006) Taxonomy of Classifications of DMs to provide theoretical underpinnings of the study. Moreover, the study also adopts a quantitative approach, analyzing the frequency and distribution of discourse markers in a corpus of MA dissertations of the students. In addition, the study samples six (6) dissertations from the institution using purposive and convenience sampling techniques. The samples are collected from the Departments of English and Literary Studies of the mentioned institution using gender, ethnic background, and area of specialization of each dissertation as the criteria for the selection. The analysis of the data reveals that two hundred and twenty two (222 DMs) are found in the dissertations serving different communicative functions. The findings also suggest that graduate students in this federal institution employ a wide range of discourse markers, with elaborative markers being the most frequently used in the dissertations. The research concludes that discourse markers play a significant role in academic writing, primarily as tools for signaling logical relations, expressing writer’s stance, and managing reader’s expectations.