Functions of you know and I mean in Academic Seminar Discussions by ELF Speakers

This study described the functions of you know and I mean in contexts of academic seminar discussions by ELF speakers. The data used in the study consisted of the multicultural discussions in the corpus of English as a lingua franca in academic settings (ELFA). The approach of conversation analysis (CA) was used together with corpus techniques with the aim to provide quantitative support to function categorizations which were drawn from qualitative analysis. Results of the study not only demonstrated the multi-functionality of you know and I mean but also suggested that these two discourse markers played specific functions in academic seminar discussions under ELF contexts. In the context of cross-cultural and academic communication where problematic terms may occur, we found that you know was mainly used to achieve clarity, while I mean was primarily used to correct previous statements and dysfluencies. The findings of this study will help ELF speakers communicate more effectively in academic interactions by recognizing the functions of discourse markers and using them properly.