Exploring Discourse-pragmatic Markers in an EFL Context

Tasks have become powerful tools to address and teach pragmatics since they mirror real-life situations and therefore prompt pragmatic language use. However, a low number of studies have focused on the use of written tasks for the acquisition of pragmatics. Here, discourse-pragmatic markers (DPM) play a key role in every written interaction because they not only provide coherence to the text but also serve to express the writers¿ attitude towards the proposition. Notwithstanding, little research is found in the literature. Therefore, due to the potential of tasks in classroom settings, this study aims at exploring the rate of DPM use across tasks and proficiency levels in EFL learners¿ written production.