Complimenting and Teaching Compliments in the Iranian EFL Instructional Context

This was a multi-method exploratory-interpretive study involving a cross-sectional survey (DCT administration) as well as a subsequent pragmatic instruction motivated by the necessity to promote the EFL learners’ overall pragmatic development at one of the largest English Language Institutes in Iran. The study involved 30 Persian native speakers, 30 British English native speakers, 120 Iranian EFL learners across different English language proficiency levels, and 10 Iranian EFL learners enrolled in an oral communication class where pragmatic teaching was implemented. The present study collected comprehensive qualitative data comprising the participants’ DCT responses, classroom discussion transcriptions, completed mini-research observation forms, Iranian EFL learners’ reflections reports, and it employed quantitative as well as qualitative interpretive analytical procedures. The study findings revealed some pragma-linguistic as well as socio-pragmatic similarities and differences in realization of compliments and related responses between the Persian and British English native speakers. Further, the results demonstrated the Iranian EFL learners’ developing knowledge of complimenting in the target language which still required improvement, especially in terms of the L2 socio-pragmatic conventions. Finally, the triangulation of the data collected by the teacher-researcher showed that the pragmatic instruction of compliments enhanced socialization opportunities for the Iranian learners’ pragmatic development in the target language. Keywords: Iranian EFL learners, cross-sectional survey, pragmatic instruction, compliment, compliment response, pragmatic development,DCT, socialization.