Discourse Markers and Cohesive Devices in Bilingual Adolescents’ Oral Narratives: A Cross-Linguistic Analysis of Dutch–Turkish, Dutch–Arabic, and Dutch–Berber Speakers in Amsterdam
Keywords:
discourse markers, cohesion, oral narrative, bilingual adolescents, translanguaging, pragmatic developmentAbstract
This study examines the use of discourse markers and cohesive devices in oral narrative production among bilingual adolescents aged 13–17 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, focusing on Dutch–Turkish, Dutch–Arabic, and Dutch–Moroccan Berber language pairs. Forty bilingual adolescents and a control group of twenty monolingual Dutch-speaking adolescents participated in structured narrative elicitation tasks designed to capture spontaneous spoken discourse. The analysis combines quantitative frequency counts with qualitative discourse-pragmatic examination to identify patterns in the distribution, function, and cross-linguistic transfer of discourse markers. Results indicate that bilingual adolescents deploy discourse markers not only as cohesion devices but also as interactional and identity-affirming resources. A notable finding is the strategic incorporation of L1-derived discourse markers within Dutch-medium narratives, which serve to enhance textual cohesion, manage narrative structure, and index sociocultural identity. In contrast, monolingual speakers rely more exclusively on standardized Dutch cohesive devices, showing less variability in discourse marker usage. Importantly, the study demonstrates that what are often classified as “errors” or non-standard forms in bilingual discourse are better understood as context-sensitive, pragmatically motivated translanguaging practices. These practices reflect bilingual speakers’ advanced metalinguistic awareness and adaptive communicative competence rather than linguistic deficiency. The findings challenge deficit-oriented models of bilingual language development and provide empirical support for translanguaging perspectives that view bilingual discourse as an integrated, dynamic system. The study contributes to applied linguistics, bilingualism research, and discourse studies by highlighting the functional complexity of discourse markers in multilingual adolescent communication and their role in identity construction and narrative organization.
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