PROJECT (Professional Journal of English Education)
Vol. 9 No. 4 (2026): VOLUME 9 NUMBER 4, JULY 2026

Exploring The Types and Pragmatic Functions of Fillers in University Podcast Discourse

Muhammad Fatah Attamimi (Universitas Negeri Semarang)
Sri Wuli Fitriati (Universitas Negeri Semarang)
Yuliati (Universitas Negeri Semarang)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 Jun 2026

Abstract

This study explores the role of fillers used by international students in a spontaneous communication setting through a podcast interview at Universitas Negeri Semarang. The study aims to classify the types as well as to analyze the pragmatic functions of fillers as used by the students during the podcast, utilizing Rose’s (1998) filler classification and Stenström’s (1994) filler function theories as the framework. A descriptive qualitative single case study approach was employed for the study, collecting extensive transcription data from the entirety of the podcast which consisted of six Denish students as the key participants. The collected data was then analyzed thoroughly using content analysis method, focusing on each student’s utterances in order to identify the fillers and their meaning in the context of the podcast. The findings show that lexicalized filler is the more dominant type used by the students, occurring 197 times from an accumulation of 274 fillers throughout the podcast. In addition, the most used pragmatic function of filler is the hesitation device. The findings highlight that international students strongly rely on lexicalized fillers to manage spontaneous communication and maintain the flow of conversation during a podcast interview.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

project

Publisher

Subject

Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media

Description

Focus PROJECT (Professional Journal of English Education) is a media for diseminating the result of research about language and education in English Education. Scope PROJECT (Professional Journal of English Education) publishes the research article in language, and education in English Education. ...