The effects of corrective feedback on the written grammatical accuracy of ESL learners / Hanif Asyraf Hashim

• Main Author: Hanif Asyraf , Hashim
• Format: Thesis
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: P Philology. Linguistics

The debate on the value of providing corrective feedback on L2 writing has been prominent since Truscott’s (1996) claim on its inefficacy and harmful effects. With the aim of contributing to the discussion, this study reports on the effectiveness of different types of corrective feedback (focused direct, focused indirect, unfocused direct, unfocused indirect) in improving the written grammatical accuracy of ESL learners and whether such difference in efficacy is influenced by its efficacy in promoting the noticing function of the Output Hypothesis. 125 ESL learners were divided into four experimental groups and one control group and their progress in written grammatical accuracy was monitored through two treatment and three tests (pretest, posttest, delayed posttest). The results reveal that short-term improvement is demonstrated by the focused direct, unfocused direct, and focused indirect feedback while longitudinal improvement is only recorded by the focused direct feedback. Meanwhile, the unfocused indirect does not show much improvement as compared to the control group. The result also reveals the superior efficacy of direct feedback in playing its role as the facilitator for noticing as opposed to the indirect approach of CF provision.