Research trends in L2 written corrective feedback: A bibliometric analysis of three decades of Scopus-indexed research on L2 WCF

Abstract

We conduct a bibliometric analysis to map the field of research on written corrective feedback (WCF) for L2 learning over the last 30+ years, tracking changes in the popular areas for L2 WCF research topics, outlets, highest-cited authors, and geographical origins of published L2 WCF research. Based on a collection of the metadata of 493 L2 WCF-related articles from 158 Scopus-indexed journals, books and book chapters, our data reveal links between developments in L2 WCF research and diachronic socio-cultural developments in applied linguistics and society more generally. We find a significant rise in studies on teacher and peer feedback, WCF within assessment, the affordances of direct vs indirect forms of WCF and their impact on grammatical accuracy, stakeholders’ perceptions of WCF, automated writing evaluation, learner engagement with WCF, how WCF impacts editing, and WCF for second language acquisition. L2 WCF studies span 11 total languages across the period, although the dominance of English is an ongoing concern. A number of influential, highly-cited L2 WCF researchers are identified over the past three decades, including clusters of L2 WCF researchers spanning a range of (inter)disciplinary research areas. Although researchers from the USA still account for the highest raw frequency of Scopus-indexed L2 WCF research, its slower relative increase compared with those from China, Iran, Spain, and many others is evidence that the global reach of L2 WCF research (at least for L2 English) has expanded considerably. We discuss the implications of these findings for the field and provide insights into what L2 WCF research might cover next.