Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.22210/strjez/54-2/2
On personal pronouns in Croatian GFL learners’ argumentative texts
Ivana Šarić Šokčević
orcid.org/0000-0001-9250-801X
; Sveučilište u Osijeku, Filozofski fakultet
Sažetak
Metadiscourse markers are important features facilitating communication by transferring the
message that is intended to be mediated by the writer. Personal pronouns can be defined as
interpersonal discourse markers often used by foreign language (FL) learners to mark the
writer’s presence in argumentative texts. Despite previous extensive work on the usage of
personal pronouns in FL learners’ argumentative texts, the Croatian German as a foreign
language (GFL) learning context has not been investigated so far. Therefore, this study analyses
the results of a corpus-based study on the usage of the German nominative personal
pronouns ich (English ‘I’), wir (English ‘we’), and du (English ‘you’, second person singular) in
argumentative essays written by Croatian GFL learners (N = 50) at the B2 level. It aims at investigating
(a) the frequency of these personal pronouns used in argumentative texts written
by Croatian GFL learners, and (b) the functions these nominative personal pronouns fulfil
within the discourse. The results show that the most frequently used personal pronoun is the
self-referent ich (English ‘I’), fulfilling various discourse functions, such as expressing stance
and describing personal experiences. The second most commonly used personal pronoun is
wir (English ‘we’), primarily used to present a general claim. Finally, du (English ‘you’, second
person singular) is the least frequently used personal pronoun, only expressing the function
of involving the reader, but reflecting individual differences across the corpus.
Ključne riječi
personal pronouns; interpersonal markers; discourse functions; writer’s visibility; GFL argumentative essays
Hrčak ID:
346079
URI
Datum izdavanja:
16.2.2026.
Posjeta: 170 *