Marked Referential Practices in English Conversation

Abstract

This paper considers various marked practices by which speakers of English refer to people, including themselves and others, when conversing with their interlocutors. It shows that parties in a conversation sometimes deploy marked ways of reference in order to accomplish various non-referential (i.e., interactional) undertakings. This paper aims to contribute not only to a better understanding of English speakers' referential practices, but also to the teaching of English to Korean leamers to whom these marked language use may not be well known. The knowledge of these marked uses can be a very useful interactional resource for the leamers and may obviate possible interactional troubles when they interact in the target culture.