Discourse marker acquisition and out-of-school activities: evidence from EFL writing

The present paper attempts to investigate what out-of-school activities might positively affect the acquisition of discourse markers (DMs) which seems to be one of the most demanding areas for EFL learners. Two equal size groups of Croatian primary and secondary school learners (N = 200) completed a writing test in English and a questionnaire aimed at establishing the degree to which the respondents were exposed to out-of-school activities. The results reveal that the out-of-school activity which EFL learners might best benefit from is reading authentic English literature. It is followed by watching English TV programs and surfing English websites. The findings of the study reflect a need for enhancing EFL learners´ awareness of the benefits and possibilities for out-of-school activities by incorporating tasks and teaching materials that bring the out-of-school activities into EFL classrooms.