Abstract
The role of written corrective feedback (WCF) in the process of acquiring a second language (L2) has been an issue of considerable controversies over past decades. This article intends to provide a critical review of the increasing number of WCF studies thus far and to inspire new perspectives for future research. It starts by briefly tracing the theoretical positions on the role of WCF in L2 instruction. Subsequently, a synthesis of empirical arguments with respect to the effectiveness of WCF, the relative merits of various WCF options, and the amenability of different error categories to WCF are presented. Based on all the evidence, two common limitations: the focus on form-oriented WCF options and the narrow range of target errors are critically discussed in the final part. It concludes by suggesting that an integration between such learning enhancing variables as micro context and written feedback, and that an extension of target structure from learners’ rule-governed errors to their non rule-governed errors should be investigated in future WCF studies so that fresh insights for WCF research could be achieved on one hand and pedagogical implications for L2 classroom instruction could be offered on the other.
Highlights
Given the pervasiveness of linguistic errors in second language (L2) students’ writing, teachers’ written corrective feedback (WCF), known as error correction or grammar correction, has long been a common practice in L2 instruction
It concludes by suggesting that an integration between such learning enhancing variables as micro context and written feedback, and that an extension of target structure from learners’ rule-governed errors to their non rule-governed errors should be investigated in future WCF studies so that fresh insights for WCF research could be achieved on one hand and pedagogical implications for L2 classroom instruction could be offered on the other
In accordance with the theoretical foundations underlying the use of WCF in L2 instruction, many empirical studies have provided positive evidence on the effectiveness of WCF
Summary
Given the pervasiveness of linguistic errors in second language (L2) students’ writing, teachers’ written corrective feedback (WCF), known as error correction or grammar correction, has long been a common practice in L2 instruction. A substantial body of empirical studies has been conducted to investigate the role of WCF in L2 writing and second language acquisition (SLA). Past decades have witnessed a proliferation of WCF studies, what these research efforts have shown as well as the possible implications for practice remain in dispute. In view of these unsettled disputes with respect to the role of WCF in L2 learning, this paper endeavors to contribute new insights to the current literature by first reviewing the theoretical arguments for and against the use of WCF in L2 instruction. Two widespread limitations in current WCF research are discussed, with new perspectives and directions proposed for future research efforts
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