Factors Contributing to Interlanguage Pragmatics (ILP) Competence Development: Evidence from the Iranian EFL Setting

This study sought to explore the factors contributing to Iranian EFL learners’ interlanguage pragmatic (ILP) competence development. In line with the objective, 20 conveniently selected Iranian advanced EFL learners attended a semi-structured interview which consisted of three open-ended questions addressing the factors contributing to EFL learners’ ILP competence development. The data underwent qualitative thematic analysis. The findings showed that the factors like grammatical knowledge, input and output enhancement, explicit instruction, corrective feedback, realistic material, simulation activities, class negotiations, online resources, teachers and teachers’ speech, textbooks, classroom tasks and activities, and context play a main role in developing the target ILP. The findings offer some implications for EFL learners, teachers, teacher trainers and curriculum developers. For instance, EFL learners can leverage these findings by incorporating the identified factors into their strategies to enhance their ILP competence.