Disagreement Expressions as Speech Acts in Classroom Discussions: A Case for Iranian EFL Learners

This research aimed to examine the use of linguistic markers and mitigation devices in expressing disagreement, as well as the influence of the power, rank, and severity of disagreement on the frequency of different types of disagreement among Iranian EFL students. The study involved 90 participants, including advanced-level students and teachers, who took part in six free discussion classes. The data analysis based on the models of disagreement by Brown and Levinson (1978) and Miller and Spencer-Oatey (2018) showed that most participants expressed disagreement in a softened manner. Female participants predominantly expressed softened disagreement, while male participants expressed aggravated disagreement. In addition, female participants often used positive comments to express disagreement, whereas the males employed judgemental vocabulary and intensifiers. The paper discusses further detailed findings. The results of this study have implications for English instructors, syllabus designers, and English institutes working with EFL learners regarding their use of disagreement strategies.