The Efficacy of Recast vs. Explicit Corrective Feedback on Students’ English Pronunciation of Common Words: The Case of English Department Students at Ibn Tofail University

Abstract

This study investigates the effectiveness of recast and explicit corrective feedback on students’ pronunciation improvement among first-year English university undergraduates at Ibn Tofail University, and compares these feedback types to determine the most effective one. A pilot study was conducted to give insights into the pronunciation difficulties faced by students. Based on this latter, the main study was done to address the aims of the investigation. A quasi-experiment was designed with 45 participants divided into three groups: Explicit, Recast and a Control group. The impact of recast and explicit corrective feedback was assessed through the Kruskal-Wallis Test, and the comparative assessment was done using Welch’s T-test. The results indicate that both recast and explicit corrective feedback positively influenced students’ pronunciation development. Yet, the explicit feedback appears superior and more effective than recast, demonstrating a high influence on students’ pronunciation errors. Hence, the investigation suggests that educators should be explicit enough to help students better develop their pronunciation.