A sociocultural exploration of Iranian language teachers’corrective feedback: Why and how?

Abstract

This study aims to explore the types and reasons for teachers’corrective feedback (CF) in English as a Foreign Language (EFL)classes from sociocultural perspectives. To do so, 12 Iranian EFLteachers were selected based on convenience sampling, and 18sessions of their classes (one or two from each teacher) wereobserved to ensure that there were at least three CF occurrencesin each teacher’s class. Then, the teachers attended stimulatedrecall interviews in which they answered questions about reasonsfor applying specific CFs in their classes. Different subthemesemerged from the data within the three sociocultural mediators’themes, namely psychological, material and peer mediators. Theresults indicated that teachers use different CFs in their classes forvarious reasons such as scaffolding learning, enhancing noticingand exposure, and fostering learners’ agency. The study ends withsuggestions and implications for teachers and teacher educators.