This study is to review the pragmatic appropriateness of the listening transcripts in Korean textbooks for beginners and suggest appropriate application methods in comparison to Korean natural conversations with a special focus on thematic discourse markers and back-channels. From the examination of these two discourse devices through a pragmatic perspective based on the politeness theory, they can be interpreted as discourse devices that not only provide smooth communication but also express indirectly the speakers(or the listeners)` willingness for active participation in communication by showing sympathy. The suggested appropriate application methods are as follows : 1) use of hedge, 2) use of discourse markers` contractions, and 3) use of back-channels to show emotion and opinion. However, additional research methods such as questionnaire surveys, should complement the research so that more objectivity regarding pragmatic appropriateness can be obtained . Furthermore samples of natural Korean conversations need to be collected from various situation and contexts.