Presence and Relevance of Fillers in English. Teaching Language Textbooks

Abstract

One of the main problems that English language learners tend to present is that they do not communicate appropriately in the speaking mode after years of learning, although they have a consolidated knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. This reality can be avoided with proper teaching methods, focusing on the features of real speech acts. This paper analyses the importance of one of these oral features, that is, fillers, and the way in which they are introduced in language acquisition by means of English Language Teaching textbooks (from now on ELT textbooks). The materials examined included transcripts and activities selected from two different ELT textbooks of the same level. Results revealed that fillers are commonly inserted in this type of transcripts; however, their frequency and relevance depend on the publishing and the materials selected. These results are discussed and guidelines for further investigation are suggested.