'discourse marker' is correct and usable in written English.
A discourse marker is a word or phrase used to link different parts of a conversation or text. For example, "Moreover, discourse markers can help to make a conversation or text easier to understand."
Robin Lakoff, a professor of linguistics at Berkeley, read a partial transcript of Clinton's remarks and was struck by the recurrence of something else: the phrase "you know," which in her line of work is recognized as a "discourse marker" or a "pragmatic particle".
The study shows that dan may be used as a discourse marker to indicate one of five potential relationships between the two discourse segments it conjoins.
Her second "so" study, in 2008, is called "So What's Up?": Using the Discourse Marker So to Launch Conversational Business.
Uses appropriate discourse markers and connectors spontaneously".
Discourse markers, far from being opaque, automatic, or zombie-like, show that the speaker has "a desire to share or rephrase opinions to recipients".
The researchers explain that, to do this, they "focused on three common discourse markers … (I mean, you know, and like) and two filled pauses (uh and um)." They recorded and transcribed interviews with the speakers, noted how often the speakers used so-called "discourse markers," and concluded that these markers are, indeed, used most frequently by women and girls.
More important, the study also shows that the use of the discourse markers is particularly common among speakers who score on a personality test as "conscientious"—"people who are more thoughtful and aware of themselves and their surroundings".
The study they conducted "aimed to investigate how the frequency of filled pauses and discourse markers used in the English language varies with two basic demographic variables (gender and age) and personality traits".
More important, the study also shows that the use of the discourse markers is particularly common among speakers who score on a personality test as "conscientious" — "people who are more thoughtful and aware of themselves and their surroundings".
As one commenter on the paper writes, The researchers believe the explanation is that "conscientious people are generally more thoughtful and aware of themselves and their surroundings," and their use of discourse markers shows they have a "desire to share or rephrase opinions to recipients".
