A Comparative Study of the Use of Affective Markers in Supervision Comments: Case of Native versus Non-native Supervision Comments

Abstract

Investigating supervision comments, as a form of interaction between the teacher and the learner, is an area of research that has received little attention so far in spite of being crucial in creating an atmosphere of friendship and confidence-building. Previous research in this area has emphasized the role of affect in supervision comments in distance learning, however, this issue has not been investigated with regard to native versus non-native supervisors’ comments in face-to-face supervision settings. To address this, an attempt was made, in this study, to examine the use of affective markers in the supervision comments provided by native/non-native supervisors on MA TESOL/TEFL Iranian students. To do so, the written comments of the supervisors on the students’ theses were analysed using a framework called Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Project (CSARP) Coding Manual. The results indicated that the non-native supervisors tended to rely entirely on ‘bold on record’ strategies for providing written comments on their students’ theses and this was in contrast to the native supervisors’ tendency to use ‘redressive moves’ with affective markers rather than non-redressive or direct moves. The percentage of application of internal and external ‘redressive moves’ was another finding of the present study.