Web-based and collaborative corrective feedback: Exploring options for reducing the dependence on the teacher in 12 writing

This paper reports a study that examined the effect of web-based and collaborative corrective feedback (CF) on the use of English articles in the written mode. Sixty four Iranian learners of English were placed in the web-based CF, the collaborative CF, and the control group. During two treatment sessions, all participants were required to narrate their accounts of reading 2 fables in a fixed time span. The targeted forms used incorrectly in the narration of the web-based CF group were specified and sent back to participants as a hyperlink to a concordance file designed for this study. Later, the group was required to exploit concordances for self-correction using an online concordance website. Participants in the collaborative CF group revised their narrations collaboratively. The control group, however, received no CF. Results of repeated measures ANOVAs run on the data obtained revealed that although both web-based and collaborative CF improved learners' L2 writing in terms of English articles significantly, web-based CF showed some superiority over collaborative CF. The findings also suggested, though implicitly, that participants assumed more responsibility and independence in revising their own writing as a result of the CFs given in this study.