Comment Markers in Spoken English in Korea

The present study examines the use of four categories of comment markers among Korean speakers of English, a category of grammatical items whose use is prompted by pragmatic factors, using the data from the elicited conversation in English. Previous research on comment markers has suggested that comment markers are more frequent in the Inner Circle varieties than in the Outer Circle varieties and that there are systematic differences in the distribution of comment markers between Kachru’s Inner and Outer Circles. Since English is learned and used as an important foreign language in Korea, Korean society which belongs to the Expanding Circle is a suitable context for research on world Englishes and English as a lingua franca as well. Findings from the data analysis indicate that the use of comment markers among Korean speakers of English displays similar features with that of the Outer Circle varieties of English, especially East Asian varieties. Epistemic markers constitute the most sizable subcategory and the frequency of hearsay markers are relatively high raking the second in the data. The implications of the findings for the stylistic preferences and areal co-patterning are suggested. This paper contributes to the body of comment markers across the world Englishes.