The Effectiveness of Explicit Corrective Feedback in the Second Language Classroom

Abstract

Despite an increasing push for standardisation in schools, where the focus is increasingly turning to testing, language classrooms in some locations around the world (e.g., North America and Japan) are moving away from grammar-emphasized teaching filled with drills, for an approach that is more communicative (see Lee & VanPatten, 2003; Omaggio Hadley, 2000; Richards, 2006). Research suggests that exposure to native-like language is not enough for learners to achieve acquisition (White, 1991). Student, instead, require opportunities to produce language, complete with errors. For language teachers, the question is how to respond to students’ errors in the classroom, in particular to consider whether error correction is effective. Although many studies have examined this problem, the results are mixed. In order to sort out these mixed results, this study presents the results of a meta-analysis on the effects of explicit oral corrective feedback in the second language classroom. The results reveal a small effect on the ability of explicit feedback to promote language learning, although whether there is a long-term effect that leads to acquisition is not yet confirmed.