Academia.eduAcademia.edu
European Journal of English Language Teaching ISSN: 2501-7136 ISSN-L: 2501-7136 Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu Volume 2 │ Issue 4 │ 2017 doi: 10.5281/zenodo.820570 TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND USE OF ENGLISH HEDGES IN CLASSROOM FOR DEVELOPING EFL LEARNERS’ PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE Bui Thi Kim Hangi Dong Thap University, Viet Nam Abstract: English hedges are common in native speakers’ communication, without hedges speakers may be perceived as unnatural or too direct. It has been thought that teacher talk is a means which can facilitate EFL learners’ awareness and use of English hedges. The questionnaire was used to investigate teachers’ perceptions of hedges and the significance of hedging in classroom instruction for developing learners’ pragmatic competence. The findings of the current study show that teachers have positive perceptions of the facilitative roles and pragmatic functions of English hedges. They believe the significance of hedging in classroom instruction; however, they think that it is difficult to develop students’ pragmatic competence via teacher talk because there is a lack of context in classroom for hedging and whether or not teachers hedge in instructional language depends on teaching content and students’ proficiency level. Keywords: instructional language, hedges, pragmatic competence, EFL For downloading the full article, please access the following link: http://oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejel/article/view/855 Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. © 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group 58