ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the use of the most frequent discourse strategies in turn-taking by Spanish L2 learners. The focus of investigation is on conversational sequences introduced by different metadiscursive particles, especially bueno, pues, entonces and others. Such particles are among the ten most frequent pragmatic markers in spoken interaction and thus constitute an important indicator of the pragmatic competence of both native and non-native speakers. Moreover, their pronounced polyfunctional character presents a real challenge for language learners.
The comparative study is based on the PRACOMUL speech corpus of Spanish as a second language which was compiled within the framework of an international project focusing on cooperative e-learning. The aim is to analyse to which extent pragmatic functions in non-native speech differ from those in native speech and to identify the varieties of use by learners as a result of different mother tongues.
