One-word Interjections as Discourse Markers in Female and Male Speakers’ Academic Talk: A Case Study Based on the Michigan Corpus of Academic English

Abstract

Through a corpus-based search, the present paper’s objective is to attempt to reveal the differentiation of some interjections as discourse markers in the academic talks presented by speakers of both genders. By doing so, I offer a deepened insight into why female and male speakers resort to the use of these interjections. On the basis of an online corpus of the University of Michigan, I present my findings according to several other criteria. The corpus is compiled of a huge set of academic talks by students and staff of the university. Finally, using Jakobson’s functions, I classify and further analyse these discourse markers. The data attained through searching this corpus take me a step further in casting some light on the ratio of the interjections used by the two genders, and the possible reasons for the uneven distribution of interjections in terms of female and male use.