Feedback on feedback: perceptions of Saudi EFL teachers and learners on pragmatics instruction of feedback exchange

Abstract

Nurturing learners’ pragmatic competence has become one of the core objectives in the EFL classroom, and several researchers have been concerned with the teachability of different pragmatic aspects (Kasper, 1997; Taguchi, 2015). Despite a growing number of intervention studies of L2/EFL pragmatics, the existing literature remains largely focused on speech acts, often neglecting teaching pragmatics at the discourse level. Thus, the purpose of this research is to design and implement instructional materials in teaching pragmatic features of feedback exchange. Teachers’ and learners’ perceptions are then examined regarding the designed materials and tasks to develop a conceptual framework for teaching pragmatics of feedback in the EFL context, reconceptualising the objective of EFL pragmatics instruction to reflect intercultural pragmatics (Kecskés, 2014). The classroom intervention included 31 students (one intact class) and 4 teachers for a period of two weeks (3 hours per week). Drawing on a qualitative case study design, data were collected from both teachers and students (Creswell, 2007, Merriam, 1988; Stake, 1995; Simons, 2015; Yin, 2018). Teacher data were gathered using classroom observations and focus groups.

Student data consisted of reflective logs and individual interviews. Additionally, the researcher documented observations and reflections through a research journal and fieldnotes throughout the research process. Thematic Analysis (TA) by Braun and Clarke (2006) was employed for data analysis as TA is an effective method used in qualitative studies to search, identify, analyse, and interpret recurring patterns and codes forming themes emerged within the data. The thematic analysis has revealed that teachers and students demonstrated positive perceptions illustrating themes of motivation, engagement, and pragmatic competence. Both teachers and learners highlighted the influence of contextual variables on the pragmatics of feedback, with situational factors such as age, gender, and power as main factors among teachers and learners. Both also noted the influence of intentions and affect on the pragmatics of feedback. However, students indicated potential outcomes, including the development of interpersonal, intercultural, and translation-related competencies. The major implication for this study is the implementation of authentic materials and tasks into teaching EFL pragmatic features of feedback, expanding traditional curricula to include discourse-level pragmatics that is not explicitly taught in L2/EFL classroom. The discussion has also suggested that the study could contribute to sociopragmatic and socio-psychological perspectives of pragmatics research.