Investigating disagreements through a context-specific approach: A case of Iranian L2 speakers

The current study investigated the expression of disagreement by Iranian advanced English learners. The data for the study comprised the recorded discussions of 26 male and female interlocutors in three different settings: 1) language institute, 2) home environment, and 3) university setting. Analysis of the arguments pointed to the influence of contextual factors. More precisely, disagreements were found to be complex and multidirectional speech acts and thus various factors, including the interlocutors’ power, relationships, background, and the situational context, influence their realization as face-threatening or face-enhancing speech acts. Therefore, the linguistic markers cannot safely categorize disagreement turns into polite/impolite or preferred/dispreferred acts.