How Do Teachers and Learners Perceive Corrective Feedback in the Japanese Language Classroom?

Abstract

This study examined Japanese language teachers' and learners' perceptions of corrective feedback (CF), focusing on the cases in which the learners responded to the teachers' CF. Data were collected from the second‐year course of an Australian university for 1 semester by classroom observation and audio recording and stimulated recall interviews. Two teachers and 7 learners participated in the study. According to the data analysis, learners' responses to CF did not necessarily indicate their noticing or understanding of the CF. The teachers tended to overestimate “strong” students' noticing of CF and their understanding of correct forms when they responded to their CF. Implicit CF, which was much more frequently used than explicit CF, did not tend to lead to the learners noticing of CF. The learners' responses to CF without noticing the CF seemed to be related to their preference of not triggering social strain or embarrassment in the classroom. The results suggest that teachers' and learners' perceptions of CF and the learners' responses to CF are associated with the teachers' perceptions of individual learners, the learners' perceptions of classroom interactions, as well as the various types of CF.