title: The role of discourse features in L2 oral ability
Creators: name: Maragianni, Marina Olga
Publisher: name: University of Reading
Year: 2023

description: Discourse competence is suggested as an integral part of L2 ability. A review of literature 
draws attention to the role of discourse competence in real-life communication, as it can promote 
effective language use in a given context, where L2 users know how to follow appropriate social 
conventions (Bachman &amp; Palmer, 1996; de Jong, Steinel, Florijn, Schoonen &amp; Hulstijn, 2012; Kuiken,
Vedder, &amp; Gilabert, 2010). Yet, little is known about the extent of the contribution discourse features
of spoken performance make to assessment of L2 ability. 
This thesis presents the findings of two interrelated studies, both of which aimed at 
investigating L2 learners’ use of discourse features across different proficiency levels. Moreover, the 
thesis aimed at examining L2 ability through two different methods of assessment (i.e., a standardized 
multiple-choice test and raters’ holistic judgements) in order to find out which approach exhibits a 
clear relationship with use of discourse-related features of competence. An additional aim of the 
thesis was to explore the impact of task design on use of discourse features in L2 learners’ oral 
performance. More specifically, Study One aimed to investigate the use of Epistemic Markers (EMs) 
and Lexical Fillers (LFs) across different levels of proficiency in terms of their frequency and the effect 
of task complexity on use of these features. Data was collected from 63 EFL learners through a 
standardized test (Oxford Placement Test, OPT) that placed them in various proficiency levels and two 
oral tasks of different complexity (i.e., operationalised in terms of different degrees of reasoning and 
justification demands). The speech samples were recorded and assessed by experienced raters for 
overall L2 ability. Then, a frequency analysis (Fung &amp; Carter, 2007) was conducted to examine the use 
of EMs and LFs. The descriptive analysis showed that participants at higher proficiency levels made 
more frequent use of EMs and LFs than less proficient participants. The findings from the correlation 
analyses revealed that use of discourse features is positively associated with L2 ability in both 
assessment methods. Further analyses showed that certain levels of proficiency are distinguished 
through use of EMs and LFs. In addition, the t-test results demonstrated no effect of task complexity 
on learner performance.
Study Two was motivated by the findings of Study One and was aimed at expanding the design 
in several directions. In specific, it aimed to examine the use of Discourse Markers (DMs) across more
proficiency levels and the effect of task type on the use of these discourse features. For the analysis 
of DMs, a new measurement of DM complexity was developed. A total of 73 EFL learners completed 
the OPT that determined their level of proficiency and performed three oral tasks of different type 
(i.e., a personal information task, a decision-making task and a narrative based on pictures) in a 
counterbalanced design. Learners’ speech performances were transcribed and assessed for both 
overall L2 ability and discourse structure by experienced raters. Then, the dataset was analysed for
DM sophistication, diversity and frequency. The descriptive data analyses indicated similar use of DMs 
in terms of their sophistication across different proficiency levels. On the contrary, the analysis 
showed a more diverse use of short DMs as proficiency increased, whereas mixed results were 
produced for the diversity of longer DMs. The analysis also revealed that the most frequent use of 
DMs was made by learners at the lowest level of proficiency, while the use of DMs was very similar 
between the highest proficiency levels (i.e., B2 and C1). Inferential statistics confirmed that different 
forms of assessment led to different results. In particular, the findings from the correlation analyses 
showed that assessment through raters’ judgements reflects a clear relationship with use of DMs for 
certain levels of proficiency, whereas no such association was observed through the OPT. Moreover, 
the ANOVA analysis demonstrated that different types of tasks can affect frequency of DMs. The 
significant implications of the findings for L2 research, language testing and teaching will be discussed.