Language Trajectory through Corrective Feedback

This quasi-experimental study was designed to investigate the effects of corrective feedback on SLA/EFL to determine the potential benefits of two different corrective feedback techniques, namely recasts and elicitation. The research hypotheses were: 1) Learners who are exposed to interactive focused task that requires CR will benefit more than those who are exposed to communicative activities only; 2) Elicitation will be more effective than recasts in leading to L2 development; Three intensive EFL classes in a language center in Songkhla province, Thailand were selected to participate in the study. Based on the study design, two class were assigned to the treatment conditions elicitation group and recasts group and the third was used as a control group. The treatment took place over a period of 9 meetings focusing on teaching third person singular –s morpheme and the provision of CF where it was necessary. The participantsʹ knowledge of the intended syntantic point was tested before treatment and post tested after receiving the treatment. A multiple choice and focused-cloze reading grammar test was used in the pre-test and the post-test to evaluate the effects of the treatments on the learnersʹ acquisition of third person singular morpheme. This classroom-based study showed that the two treatment groups benefited from CF strategies, but according to the study, elicitation group outperformed the recast one.