Lexical Phrases and Bundles
Macromarkers in Classroom and Lecture usage
Discourse function / Lexical phrase / ContextGlobal Categories
Topic Markers
Topic Shifters
Summarizers
/ We’ll be looking at . . . ; Let me talk about X, then we’ll go to Y . . . ; I’ll be talking to you about . . . ; Let’s first deal with . . . ; Let me suggest some ways . . . ; Now I would like to give you . . . ; You recall from last time . . . ; One other things (about all of this)So let’s turn to . . . ; One final point is . . . ;
Now (falling tone + pause) . . .; OK (falling tone + pause) . . . ; Now I’d like to give you . . . ;
This leads to . . . ; Any other comments before I turn to X . . .?;
All this says is . . . ; So the theory goes . . . ; So there you’ve got . . . ; so what we’ve got is . . . ; To tie this up . . . ; What I’m saying is that . . . ; OK (level intonation) . . . ; We’ve suggested that . . . ; You should be able to see that . . . ; So this seems to be . . . ; And that’s the . . .
Local High-Level Organizers
Exemplifiers
/ See if X clears this up . . . ; If you’ve seen . . . , then you know . . . ; Take (say) X (here) for example . . . ; One of the ways this can be seen is . . . ; Take X, for instance/ example . . . ; As we’ll see . . . ; X is what I mean by Y . . .Relators
/ This ties in with . . . ; Same way here . . . ; that would go not only for X but (also) for Y . . . ; If you look at X, here’s Y . . .; Keep in mind that . . . ; Along the same lines . . . ; You would think that X, but in fact Y . . . ; That is . . . ; In connection with X, Y . . .Evaluators
/ As X would have us believe . . .; X is fine with me . . . ; Look at what’s going on here . . . ; Look how important . . . ; X might not work . . . ; I guarantee you that . . . ; And this is really the key to . . . ; The X I would offer is Y . . . ; But as a matter of fact . . . .Qualifiers
/ The catch here is . . . ; But X does not mean that Y . . . ; That’s not really what we mean by . . . ; It depends on how you define . . . ; So far as I know . . .Asides
/ I guess I got off track here . . . ;(Well) forget about X . . . ; Where was I?
I’d like to pass over . . . ; But I’m getting ahead of myself . . .
DeCarrico and Nattinger, 1988, Lexical Phrases for the Comprehension of Academic Lectures, English
for Specific Purposes, 7, 91-102.
Lexical Phrases and Bundles
Macromarkers in Discourse (connect meaning and structure)
Discourse function / Lexical phrase / ContextLogical connectors
/ As a result (of X); nevertheless;Because (of); in spite of
Temporal (time) connectors / The day/ month/year before/after______; and then; after X then/ the next is Y
Spatial connectors / Around here; over there; at/on the corner
Fluency devices / You know; it seems (to me) that X; by and large; at any rate; if you see what I mean; and so on; so to speak; as a matter of fact
Exemplifiers / In other words; it’s like X; for example; to give you an example
Relators / The (other) thing X is Y; X has (a lot)/doesn’t have much to do with Y; not only X but also Y
Qualifiers / It depends on X; the catch is X; it’s only in X that Y
Evaluators / As far as I know/can tell; there’s no doubt that X; I’m (not) absolutely sure/positive/certain (but) ____; I guess; at least; at all
Summarizers
/ To make a long story short; my point (here) is that X; OK (level) intonationNattinger, J.R. and DeCarrico, J.S. (1992). Lexical Phrases and Language Teaching. Oxford:
Oxford University Press. Pp. 64-5