The acquisition of Italian discourse markers as a function of studying abroad

This paper investigates the effect of a period of study in Italy on the use of discourse markers (DMs) by Belgian-Dutch learners of Italian as a second language (L2). We recorded dialogical exchanges between 8 Belgian-Dutch learners of L2 Italian, before and after an Erasmus exchange of 6 months in an Italian university. The results of our investigation reveal that, both pre- and post-Erasmus, the most used DMs are sì ‘yes’, ok, allora ‘so, then’, quindi ‘then, therefore’, dunque ‘therefore’, be’ ‘well’. Our research also shows that the main effect of the period of study abroad is the increase... Mehr ...