Embed metalinguistic corrective feedback briefly within communicative tasks without disrupting communicative flow¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 5 claims (3 for, 2 mixed) · 1 study (1 causal), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 5 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article recommends providing metalinguistic explanation online during communicative tasks, arguing it "constitutes a brief time-out from communicating, which allows the learner to focus explicitly but briefly on form." The study demonstrates that when learners receive explicit feedback on their attempts to communicate, acquisition takes place, and that metalinguistic feedback does not detract unduly from the communicative flow of a lesson.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Tasks must keep the primary focus on meaning, with class attention focused on the speaker during feedback episodes

Constraints¶

• The study examined low-intermediate learners and one grammatical structure (past tense -ed) already partially mastered; the authors note further research is needed on completely new structures

Target Learners¶

• low-intermediate second language English learners in classroom instruction

Target Learning Goals¶

• greater control over partially mastered L2 grammatical structures during communicative language use

Affordances¶

• Explicit Feedback Implicit Explicit Synergy

Claims¶

• Explicit metalinguistic feedback outperforms recasts on the delayed grammaticality judgment posttest [+W]
• Explicit metalinguistic feedback outperforms recasts on the delayed oral imitation posttest measuring implicit knowledge [+W]
• Metalinguistic feedback produced system learning, generalizing to verbs not included in the treatment [+W]
• No group differences on immediate posttests for either feedback type on either measure [~W]
• Feedback effects on ungrammatical GJT items were weak because learners already possessed the relevant explicit knowledge [~W]

Related Strategies¶

• Use metalinguistic naught CF (rule explanations without error marking) to ease teachers' corrective feedback workload while retaining long-term effectiveness.

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Rod Ellis, Shawn Loewen and Rosemary Erlam. (2006). Implicit and Explicit Corrective Feedback and the Acquisition of L2 Grammar. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Volume 28, Issue 2. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263106060141