Investigating Teacher Reformulations in EFL Classroom Interaction: An Ecological Perspective

As one of the major feedback strategies in language classrooms, teacher reformulations have garnered intense interest from researchers in the field of second language teaching and learning. However, scant attention has been paid to teachers' self-reported intentions and students' perceptions of teacher reformulations. This study aims to identify the intentions of a teacher's reformulations and the factors influencing how his students perceive these reformulations from an ecological perspective. Drawing on classroom interactions and semi-structured stimulated recall interview data from a Chinese college EFL teacher and his students, this study found that the teacher reformulated students' utterances for three reasons: (1) bridging the gap between the interlocutor students and the other students in the classroom, (2) providing emotional support for the interlocutor students' interactive participation, and (3) reinforcing students' linguistic and content knowledge. However, these intentions might be perceived differently by students. A variety of contextual and individual factors shaped their perceptions. This study emphasizes the necessity of an alignment between teacher reformulations and students' perceptions. Pedagogical implications are discussed based on these findings.