ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the major conclusions that can be drawn from research into the second language acquisition of discourse markers from the past forty years. The vast majority of L2 discourse marker research has studied learners acquiring English. But there has also been substantial research into L2 Italian, L2 German, and L2 Japanese besides L2 French. The chapter begins by describing the five main conclusions that can be drawn from these studies. The following sections of the chapter discuss the role of L1 transfer, the influence of sociolinguistic variables, and the effects of study abroad. The next two sections briefly discuss how learners may process DMs that they hear and the efficacy of teaching them in a classroom setting. The chapter concludes by refocusing on L2 French research specifically, leading to the research questions for the present study.
