Use of Indirect Focused Corrective Feedback with Metalinguistic Keys in the Acquisition of the Suffix -S in A Sri Lankan University

Abstract

This article addresses one of the frequent problems in the undergraduates who learn English as a second language in Sri Lankan universities, especially in the University of Jaffna: the omission of suffix -s in the third person singular during the writing of an academic text. It has been observed that the grammatical competence of these undergraduates is insufficient to meet the demands of academic writing. This issue reveals a situation that is shared by students who show proficiency in their communicative competence but not in their grammatical competence. They should master both competences. Therefore, attention should be equally given to both. The article describes the usefulness of corrective feedback strategies, specifically indirect focused corrective feedback with metalinguistic clues to address specific, frequent grammatical problems, such as the omission of suffix -s in students who show intermediate proficiency in their communicative competence.