TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS AND USE OF ENGLISH HEDGES IN CLASSROOM FOR DEVELOPING EFL LEARNERS' PRAGMATIC COMPETENCE

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.