چکیده:
Despite the increasing popularity of error treatment as a research subject, the effect of age as a potential learner-internal factor affecting choice of feedback is largely undertreated. Characterized by being at early stages of self-empowerment, young language learners are considerably vulnerable and in need of particular language input to meet their age-appropriate psychological demands. This study is one of the early attempts to detect the appropriate corrective feedback for children’s linguistic (grammar uptake) and personality (willingness to communicate) development. Thirty-seven young language learners (mean age = 10.32) at two pre-intermediate classes in a non-profit language institute took part in this study. Following intact group design, they were divided into two groups of recasts and explicit feedback. Whereas in the recast group, all or part of an erroneous utterance was reformulated by teacher, correct forms were directly and explicitly provided in the explicit group in the course of a semester (19 sessions 50 min=950 mins). A structured willingness to communicate (WTC) scale and two parallel grammaticality judgment tests were administered at pre- and post-intervention conditions; this stage was accompanied by the teacher’s formative observations using an unstructured WTC checklist and a tally chart worksheet. The results of the quantitative phase revealed higher grammar uptake for the recast group. Besides, students in the implicit group showed more WTC in both quantitative and qualitative investigations. These findings indicate that for young learners the use of a less direct way might be more effective in both raising their unconscious L2 knowledge and willingness to participate in classroom activities.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Recast and Explicit Feedback to Young Language Learners: Impacts on Grammar Uptake and Willingness to Communicate Shima Ghahari Ph. D.
A. in TEFL, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran Received: May 2, 2016; Accepted: October 13, 2016 Abstract Despite the increasing popularity of error treatment as a research subject, the effect of age as a potential learner-internal factor affecting choice of feedback is largely undertreated.
Keywords: young language learners, corrective feedback, recasts, explicit feedback, grammar uptake, willingness to communicate Corresponding author: Shima Ghahari (ghahary@uk.
Some factors influence L2 learners’ WTC including motivation (Hashimoto, 2002), group size and familiarity with the interlocutors (Cao & Philp, 2006), the topic of conversation and teachers’ wait time (Cao & Philp, 2006; Zarrinabadi, 2014), and error correction (Kang, 2005; MacIntyre et al.
It is the most commonly studied type of corrective feedback (Ellis & Sheen, 2006) possibly due to the high frequency with which it is used by language teachers (e.
One reason for the superiority of explicit feedback over implicit CF, particularly for low proficient learners, might be that the learners do not sensitively recognize the gap between their interlanguage and the correct forms of a target language (Lin & Hedgcock, 1996).
However, some researchers believe that explicit correction is more obtrusive, anxiety provoking, and prone to negative psychological and educational outcomes (Leeman, 2003; Mak, 2011; Trofimovich, Ammar, & Gatbonton, 2007).
DISCUSSION This study examined the effect of explicit and recast corrective feedbacks on young L2 learners’ grammar uptake and willingness to communication.