The present study examined the relative effect of direct and indirect written corrective feedback (WCF) on L2 learning and the mediating role of language anxiety in the effectiveness of these two types of WCF. Forty-five Chinese L2 learners of English were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: direct WCF (n = 15), indirect WCF (n =…

This study examines the effects of the timing of explicit instruction (EI) on grammatical accuracy. A total of 123 learners were divided into two groups: those with some productive knowledge of past-counterfactual conditionals (+Prior Knowledge) and those without such knowledge (-Prior Knowledge). Each group was divided into four conditions. Two…

This study investigated the potential of comprehensive corrective feedback forms as editing and learning tools and examined their effect on learners' cognitive and attitudinal engagement. Low-intermediate second language writers (N = 139) were randomly assigned to four experimental conditions (direct corrections of grammatical errors,…

There is an ongoing debate as to whether written corrective feedback (WCF) is effective for the improvement of adult second language (L2) writers' accuracy. Ever since Truscott (1996, 1999) began arguing against grammar correction in L2 writing courses, researchers have challenged his position (i.e. below). Although most of these studies show WCF…

It has been questioned whether students notice, act upon and, ultimately, learn from feedback if feedback about a task is received in conjunction with grades. If grades undermine feedback, it could be argued that it is a waste of teachers' time to add comments to students' written work if the students also receive grades. With reference to SLA…

This study investigated the effect of direct and indirect comprehensive corrective feedback (CF) on second language (L2) learners' written accuracy (N = 268). The study set out to explore the value of CF as a revising tool as well as its capacity to support long-term accuracy development. In addition, we tested Truscott's (e.g., 2001, 2007) claims…

This study is an attempt to investigate the effect of direct and indirect feedback on the writing performance of Iranian learners of Japanese as a foreign language. During one academic semester, three indirect feedback types including underlining, coding and translation were used as well as direct type of feedback in order to see which one makes a…

This paper discusses findings from a study investigating feedback efficacy on the accurate use of prepositions by ESL learners in written work over a period of 12 weeks. The study involved two treatment groups and a control group comparing the differential effects of the focused indirect with the unfocused indirect corrective feedback on the…

While previous research has indicated that learners with field-dependence (FD) and field-independence (FI) cognitive styles benefit differentially from different instructional modes, previous corrective feedback studies have ignored the issue of matching error correction strategies to learners' cognitive style. To shed some light on this issue,…

Conventional corrective feedback has been widely practiced but has been said to be tedious, stressful and time consuming. As such, the focus of this study is to investigate the use of an alternative method to giving corrective feedback namely, an online corrective feedback through e-mail. In order to examine if this innovative form of corrective…

Very often, second language (L2) writers commit the same type of errors repeatedly, despite being corrected directly or indirectly by teachers or peers (Semke, 1984; Truscott, 1996). Apart from discouraging teachers from providing error correction feedback, this also makes them hesitant as to what form of corrective feedback to adopt. Ferris…

The call for longitudinal evidence on the efficacy of written corrective feedback (WCF) for ESL (English as a second language) writers has been made repeatedly since Truscott (1996) claimed that it is ineffective, harmful, and should therefore be abandoned. This article discusses some of the theoretical issues raised against the practice, outlines…

This article presents the findings of a study that investigated (1) the extent to which written corrective feedback (CF) can help advanced L2 learners, who already demonstrate a high level of accuracy in two functional uses of the English article system (the use of "a" for first mention and "the" for subsequent or anaphoric mentions), further…

The extent to which ESL learners benefit from written corrective feedback has been debated at length since Truscott (1996) mounted a case for its abolition. Ten years later, the debate continues, not only because little attention has been given to testing its efficacy over time but also because studies that have investigated the issue have not…

This study examines the effectiveness of written error corrections versus reformulations of second language learners' writing as two means of improving learners' grammatical accuracy on a three-stage composition-comparison-revision task. Concurrent verbal protocols were employed during the comparison stage in order to study the learners' reported…