Noticing discourse linkers and signallers L inkers Notice how the utterances of the interviewer and the interviewee are linked to one another. The linkers have been italicised for you. Linking is done either through the use of reference pronouns, like ‘that’, ‘this’, ‘which’ etc. It can also be done through a repetition of words.
I am convinced I am always doing the same thing. Which is? Aah, now that is more difficult to explain. …..
While waiting for your elevator to come up from the first to the third floor, I have already written an article! ( Laughs ). Not everyone can do that of course. ……………………………………….
Novels probably satisfied my taste for narration. Talking about novels, …………………………………………. at least more than of them... Over .
Over . …………………………………………….. I cannot expect to have one million readers with stuff on semiotics. Which brings me to my next question.
……………………………………………………… Were you puzzled at all by this? The Interview / No. Journalists are puzzled. ……………………………………………………………..
Could the huge success of the novel have anything to do with the fact that it dealt with a period of medieval history that... That’s possible …………………………………………………………………………… The use of linkers is important in all continuous stretches of text. It is very important in conversation, especially a structured conversation like an interview. s ignaLLers When there are shifts in the topic the speaker usually indicates them through phrases that prepare the listener for the shift.
Notice these two examples taken from the interview: “Which brings me to another question ….” “But let me tell you another story…” Without these preparatory signallers the flow of ideas in a conversation will not be smooth and continuous.