Learners and reformulative discourse markers. A case study of the use of cioè by students of Italian as a foreign language

Building on the results of a previous study on reformulative discourse markers (Corino 2012), this paper examines the different functions and semantic features of the Italian discourse marker cioè in the hope of elaborating a clear framework for its many functions and uses. The outcomes will enable us to answer three main research questions: 1) Is there a relevant relationship between the learner’s mother tongue and the use of cioè? 2) What points in Italian as a second language (ISL) need to be taught to learners in order to improve the use of DMs? 3) What functions of cioè are used more or less by learners of ISL with respect to native speakers? To this end, the distribution of this DM will be analyzed in texts written by ISL learners, collected in the learner corpora VALICO and ADIL2, in search of regularities in acquisition vs. evidence of influence of the learners’ mother tongues.