Mitigation in the Peer Observation Discourse of Iranian EFL Teachers: A Critical Analysis

Considering the importance and possibility of face-threatening acts (FTAs) in post-observation conferences (POCs) in peer observation of teaching (POT), the current study examined mitigation in the POT discourse of Iranian teachers to see if they are aware of the FTAs and soften their criticism to save face or not and if they do so, what kinds of mitigation devices they use. Using convenient sampling, the study specifically addressed the POT discourse of ۸ Iranian EFL teachers from Sama Institute in Azadshahr and Sharifinia Institute in Aliabad in Golestan, Iran. The POCs were audio and video recorded and transcribed. Then, each suggestion was examined according to Wajnryb's (۱۹۹۴) taxonomy of utterance-level mitigation and were accordingly classified. The results showed that both the observer and the observed teacher made suggestions during the POCs, and employed a variety of mitigation devices. This indicates that teachers in POTs were aware of the potential threat of FTAs despite the power balance and the close relationship they had; thereby, resorting to language mitigation devices to hedge their criticisms. The implications hold for language teachers, language supervisors, teacher education programs, and language institutes all over the world.