Discourse markers organisation and narrative linkers

Exercise 1. Insert the words and expressions below in the appropriate columns of the table paying attention to synonyms. Explain your choices.

Firstly, at first, at the beginning, in the beginning, at the start, at the end, in the end, secondly, finally, eventually, at last

Organisation markers	Narrative markers
Function: used to show how you are organizing points.	Function: used to show the sequence of events.

Exercise 2. Use firstly / first (of all) vs. at first in the sentences below. Alter punctuation as necessary.

1. I didn’t enjoy the work. It took me a long time to get used to it.

2. There are several reasons why you should choose Sue for the job. She is extremely well qualified. What’s more, she has the necessary experience.

3. (to an apprentice in a workshop) Let me look at your work. Mm. It isn’t bad, but there are still some faults. You haven’t tightened these screws. Can you see them? And also, you’ve cut these wires too short...

4. We shall launch our new models next week. They’ll only be available in the London stores, but eventually they’ll be sold throughout the country.

5. The cut in the interest rates has not had very much impact in California for two reasons. Banks are still afraid to loan.

6. I didn’t think we were good enough. Then we played a couple of parties, and people seemed to like us.

7. The company has made mistakes. It should have invested in new technology. Furthermore, it should not have closed down its Atlantica factory.

8. Much research has been carried out on the disease. It was thought that chemical agents were responsible. It is now known to be caused by a virus.

9. Vitamin C has many roles to play in weight control. It is needed for hormone production.

10. It was hard talking to him. He seemed surprised by my questions, but then he grew very interested.

11. Certain basic guidelines can be given. You should have a heating engineer check the safety of the heating system.

12. I had some difficulty recalling why we were there. Later, though, it was clearer.

13. The Personnel manager was asked to look into the question, and his study has two aspects. He looked at the experience of other companies, and second, he looked carefully at our own working arrangements.

14. She refused to marry him, but eventually she accepted the proposal.

Exercise 3. Fill in the gaps with appropriate organisation and narrative markers.

1. ____________, the River Ouse flowed through the town. But sediment built up in the Ouse, and around 1300 the course of the river changed to run through Maryville.

2. They promised to deliver by the end of June, but the goods __________turned up on 16 August.

3. John and Anita got married ____________of May. ____________, the marriage worked well, but problems soon began to emerge.

4. We had a long and bitter argument, but __________I realised he was right after all.

5. I burnt the meat and dropped the vegetables, but the meal turned out all right __________.

6. __________the waiter brought them their meal, but by then it was cold.

7. After the operation, he went home to recuperate. ____________ he made good progress, but his condition soon began to deteriorate.

8. ____________ of the film, we are introduced to the two main characters, Bill and Sarah Cunningham.

9. Damian told me the other day that he wants to be an astronaut. I didn’t believe him __________, but then I realised he was serious!

10. She spent days trying to decide what to do. She ____________ decided that the best course of actions was to do nothing.

11. I’ve spent thousands of pounds trying to get my driving licence, and now, after seventeen goes, I’ve got it ___________!

12. They tried hard to make the marriage work, but their hearts weren’t in it, and they got divorced _____________.

13. The story jumps around from place to place, and there are characters introduced who don’t seem to be connected. ___________, you have very little idea of what it was all about.

14. I had to wait weeks for the cheque to come, but it arrived ___________.

15. ______________, the soldiers all went home.

Exercise 4. Mixed organisation and narrative markers.

Complete the letter of F. Brayne, a romantic novelist, to her publisher.

¹ , I’d just like to say that I found our meeting very useful, and the lunch was delicious! Unfortunately, when I got to the station I discovered I had missed the last train home. ²__________, after many inquiries, I decided to take a train to Ipswich and go on from there by taxi - a distance of 20 miles!

³______________, I’ll give you my reactions to your suggestions for Sad Heart. ⁴ __________I wasn’t keen on your idea of making the main character an older woman, but now I see how it might work. How about this? ⁵__________ she’s shown to be disappointed and uncertain because of the failures in her life, but the story describes how her life goes in new directions. ⁶__________, she knows who she is, and is ready for new challenges.

⁷_____________, I’d like to clear up one point. I think you said that the royalty would rise to 15% on sales above 10,000. Can you confirm this?

Yours Fiona Brayne

PS: ⁸__________ I’ve abandoned my dear old typewriter and joined the XXI century! This letter is written on my new word processor - not so many typing errors for you to correct.

“MAIN POINT” MARKERS

Exercise 5. In the passages below, underline the sentences which could begin with anyway / anyhow / in any case / at any rate.

1. I’m not going to the party, I don’t like parties much. I’m too tired. I’ll probably just stay at home and watch TV tonight.

2. We are confident that our equipment will provide years of useful service. We have thousands of satisfied customers all over the world. If a fault should develop, we guarantee that our engineers will carry out immediate repairs, free of charge.

3. Both Adams (1974) and Bentley (1991) found that language learning improved when the audio-tactile method was used. Conzales (1985) also reported some success with this approach. It appears that the technique will play a part in language teaching in future. Nevertheless, further research is needed to determine how it can be used most effectively.

4. Alice phoned the office. She says she isn’t feeling well. She thinks it might be flu. She won’t be at work today.

5. We’d better go now. We’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow. It‘s getting late. If we don’t go now we’ll miss the last bus.

6. We cut all scenes of sex and violence. It is against our religion. It's bad for the children.

7. I was told to go to Reading for this interview. It was a very amusing affair. I got the job.

8. It’s sad I’ve got a terrible cold. I’m not going to go away this weekend. My auntie from York is coming over.

9. He might have escaped or he might have come to grief. He was never seen again.

10. They might lower the price. They might change the conditions of the deal. We will have profited.

11. I don’t want to go out tonight. It’s so cold and wet outside. We can’t afford it.

12. We may hurry up to catch the next bus. We may as well miss it. We’ll be there before midday.

Exercise 6. Choose between anyway and the thing is in the conversations below.

1. A. Are you doing anything this weekend?

B. No, nothing special.

A. Anyway,/ The thing is, I’m having some friends round for dinner. Would you like to come?

2. A. Louise looks very happy today.

В. Haven’t you heard? She and Harry are getting married.

A. That’s nice. They’ve been friends for ages. Maybe she told Harry it was now or never.

В. Maybe so. Anyway / The thing is, they’ve finally made the decision.

3. A. Did Paolo get the job he applied for?

В. No. I thought he had a good chance of getting it. Maybe they thought he was too old. Anyway, / The thing is, he didn’t get it.

4. A. I hear Marie passed her biology exams.

В. She had no problems at all. Anyway, / The thing is, she has such a good memory, she just needs to look at a diagram once and she remembers it.

5. A. What do yon think of Joe Glenn’s paintings?

В. Not much. Anyway, / The thing is, he has simply no idea about colour.

6. A. Why did you tell Harry that the meeting was put off?

B. I thought it was best to warn him. Anyway, / The thing is, Cheryl wanted him to

know.

“EXTRA POINT” MARKERS

Exercise 7. Read the sentences below and decide on a suitable order (more than one may be possible). Before which sentence would you put by the way or incidentally?

1. (a) Four of them were absent.

(b) It seems George Michael is their favourite singer.

(c) I did a survey of the students in the class today.

2. (a) Have you seen her recently?

(b) She says she’s enjoying her holiday.

(c) I got a postcard from Lisa McDonald this morning.

3. (a) Twenty-eight new students enrolled today.

2. (b) A lot of them seem to be from Eastern Europe.

3. (c) We’ll divide them into two groups, OK?

4. (a) The opening ceremony is on TV.

2. (b) The Olympic Games start tomorrow.

3. (c) How many medals did we get last time?

5. (a) Do please clean everything up after you.

(b) It’s your turn for the sauna tonight.

(c) It’s reserved for you from eight till nine thirty.

6. (a) I must go now.

(b) If you want that book, I’ll bring it next time.

(c) My Mum will be worried.

7. (a) You still owe me some money.

(b) I’ve just got my pay cheque.

(c) Hopefully, it will be enough to pay my bills.

8. (a) We might consider a new discount scheme.

(b) Here are my proposals on how to improve our sales.

(c) By the way, I wonder if we could discuss my salary some time?

9. (a) How did you seminar go?

(b) I always have to wait ages when you’re getting prepared for your classes.

(c) I know your studies do take time.

10.(a) The name Latifah means “delicate”.

(b) Latifah is a good wife for Andrew.

(c) She’s so caring and attentive.

Exercise 8. Mixed ‘main point’ and ‘extra point’ forms. Insert a suitable linker in the passages and conversations below.

1. A. Are you coming to the lecture this evening?

B. Yes, I expect so. ___________, how long is it supposed to last?

2. The report from the committee suggests that the tax on petrol should not be introduced. Such an increase would be harmful to industry. ___________, it would be unfair to motorists living in rural areas.

3. The latest news is that Thomson has recovered from his injury and will play for Rovers tonight. ____________, new figures show that Thomson was the highest-paid player in the league last season.

4. Chris, you couldn’t by any chance lend me $10 till tomorrow, could you? ____________, I forgot to go to the bank this morning.

5. A. Are you getting time off from work to play in the competition?

B. I haven’t asked for time off. My boss wouldn’t be keen on the idea. _____________, the competition doesn’t start till 6 p.m., so there shouldn’t be any problem.

6. It was a good result for Vampyra, the Transylvanian athlete, who won the silver medal in the 5,000 metres. ____________, that was Transylvania’s first medal in these games.

7. A. I hear that Charles and his wife are separating.

B. Well, that shouldn’t surprise anyone. ____________, they haven’t been getting on well for years.

8. A. So, are you off to do your shopping now?

B. Yes, I’ve got a lot to do. ___________, could you possibly give me a lift into town if you’re going that way? I didn’t bring my car this morning.