Pointing backward and forward Be’-prefaced responsive turns in Italian L1 and L2

Abstract

In this study, we analyze the kind of actions L1 and L2 speakers of Italian perform by prefacing their responsive turns with the discourse marker be’. As a baseline, the article begins with an analysis of how native speakers of Italian use be’. We then carry out quantitative and qualitative analyses of the use of be’ in a number of L2 learners at different proficiency levels from three data sets of differ ent types of interactions between students and native speakers of Italian. In the qualitative analysis, we adopt a conversation analytic perspective. The results sug gest that both native speakers and L2 speakers, from intermediate to advanced level, perform a variety of social actions by be’-prefacing their responsive turns.