Past Event

Noticeability of corrective feedback, L2 development, and learner beliefs

Eva Kartchava

SLA researchers (Schmidt, 1990; Long, 1996) maintain that attention to form plays an integral role in learning a second language. Corrective feedback (CF) is seen as one way to draw attention to form (Lightbown, 1998) since correcting learner error when it is made juxtaposes the interlanguage form and the L2 norm. The positive effects of such a comparison, however, are contingent on learner recognition of the corrective intent behind CF. Although the extent to which learners are able to notice CF has received some attention (e.g., Egi, 2007; Philp, 2003), these studies have primarily focused on the noticeability of only one CF type – recasts, i.e., the teacher’s error-free reformulation of learners’ erroneous utterances – foregoing the need to investigate whether learners are able to notice CF delivered by means of other techniques. Moreover, only a handful of studies have addressed the link between noticing of CF and L2 development (e.g., Nabei & Swain, 2002; Mackey, 2006), and research into individual factors that mediate such noticing and learning is scarce (Mackey et al., 2002; Philp, 2003).

This study aimed to (1) uncover the noticeability and effectiveness of three CF techniques (recasts, prompts, and a combination of the two), (2) determine a relationship between noticing of CF and learning of the past tense and questions in the past, and (3) determine whether learner beliefs about CF mediate what is noticed and learned in the language classroom. The participants were three groups of high-beginner students (n = 99) and their ESL teachers. Each teacher was assigned to a treatment condition that fit his CF style, but the researcher taught the controls. CF was provided to learners in response to their production problems with the simple past and questions in the past. While noticing of CF was assessed through immediate recall and questionnaire responses, learning outcomes were measured by way of picture description and spot the differences tasks administered through a pre-test, post-test design. Learner beliefs about CF and corrective techniques were probed through a 40-item questionnaire. The results point to a differential noticing of the CF techniques, reiterate the complexity of the noticing-learning relationship, and suggest that the noticeability of CF may depend on learner beliefs. Implications of these findings and future research directions are discussed.

About the Presenter

Eva Kartchava has recently completed her PhD in didactics of English as a Second Language at University of Montreal. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in theoretical linguistics (1999), a certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language (2001), and a master’s degree in applied linguistics (2006) from Concordia University. Her main research interest is to explore the processes involved in the acquisition of a second language (L2) in the classroom setting. Specifically, she is interested in the relationship between corrective feedback and L2 learning, noticeability of feedback, and individual differences. She has also conducted research on novice teacher cognition and the social aspects of bilingualism. She has taught a number of courses in applied linguistics at various universities, including McGill University, Concordia University, University of Montreal, and University of Sherbrooke. Her teaching career also includes extensive experience teaching English as a second and foreign language to learners of various levels of ability in a variety of settings.