Adult and Young Language Learners' Preferences for Oral Corrective Feedback

Document Type : research article

Authors

The University of Tehran

Abstract

Recent interaction studies have
focused on the relationship between interactional feedback and L2 development.
Despite the large body of knowledge in this regard, few studies have examined
learners’ preferences for interactional feedback. Besides, different findings
have been reported concerning learners’ preferences for feedback and none has
examined the factors accounting for the variation in the results.Thus, the
present study considered the role of age in forming language learners’
preferences for oral corrective feedback. A feedback questionnaire was
distributed among 136 language learners. The results confirmed the relationship
between age of the learners and their preferences. While adults were more
inclined towards only-teacher feedback, younger learners were more in favor of
peer feedback. Adults also had a higher preference for implicit recast while
younger learners were more positively oriented towards explicit recast.
The results suggested the need for teachers to take into
consideration learner characteristics and their perceptions when correcting
their errors.

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