TEACHER EVALUATIVE DISCOURSE AND SPEAKING ANXIETY IN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP): A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE ON PROFESSIONAL FACE-THREAT AMONG PHILOLOGY UNDERGRADUATES

Abstract

The role of teacher evaluative discourse in shaping students’ emotional and academic experiences has received increasing attention in language education research. In English for Specific Purposes (ESP) contexts, where communicative competence is closely linked to professional identity, evaluative practices carry heightened significance. This paper offers a critical examination of how traditional feedback practices in ESP classrooms may contribute to speaking anxiety by reinforcing professional face-threat among philology undergraduates. Drawing on critical pedagogy, sociolinguistic theory, and affective approaches to language learning, the study interrogates the power dynamics embedded in teacher-student interactions. It argues that conventional evaluative discourse often privileges authority, correctness, and performance, thereby marginalizing student voice and increasing anxiety. The paper advocates for a shift toward dialogic, student-centered, and reflective evaluative practices that acknowledge learners as active participants in meaning-making.