Corrective Feedback in EFL Classrooms: Learner Negotiation Strategies and Uptake

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study examines the extent to which research findings from teacher Corrective Feedbacks (CFs) and SLA concerning the efficiency of Focus-on-Form (FoF) pedagogy is transferable to the context of foreign language learning in Iranian schools. To investigate how "grammar instruction with FoF-oriented error treatment" functions as a matrix in which English learning takes place, transcripts of learners' interactions in two communicatively-based high school classes were analyzed using Lyster & Ranta's taxonomy of CFs moves (Experimental Group (EXG) received CFs but provision of CFs in Control Group (CG) was not aimed). Findings reveal that all six types of CFs defined in literature were enjoyed by the present EFL teacher with a tendency to use "metalinguistic" or the overall "student-generated repairs" more than "recasts". The frequency and distribution of EFL teacher's CF types together with the frequency and distribution of different types of learner uptake following each CF type are discussed. The results highlight the endorsement of FoF pedagogy in EFL contexts and bring to light the efficacy of teacher CFs on the learner uptake. The study is unique as it adds an important layer to teacher CF and SLA research by further accounting for differences between EXG and CG in terms of negotiation strategies