A study on the pragmatic functions of self-repetition in Dr. Phil's TV show

Abstract EN

Self- repetition is a natural phenomenon that has been frequently used by interlocutors to perform a range of linguistic functions within conversational discourse.

In this research, a pragmatic analysis to the discourse of Dr.

Phil and his guests on Dr.

Phil's TV show was carried out while holding Austin’s theory of speech acts (1962) to determine the illocutionary force inherent in each utterance.

This study attempted to explore the pragmatic functions of such repetitions as used by English native speakers.

The data was collected from conversations between native speakers of English in 4 full episodes of Dr, Phil’s talk show.

The study revealed that one of the prominent linguistic features of TV discourse is repetition, which is employed to perform a variety of linguistic functions.

It was evident that self- repetition was employed to achieve several functions: adding emphasis, expressing emotional effect, showing annoyance, seeking persuasion, highlighting surprise, being questionable and functioning as filler, when the speaker was searching for a proper word to say what would come next.

The study concluded that these findings had significant implications for EFL/ESL teachers and the development of EFL/ESL learners.