Corrective feedback in english as a foreign language: a literature review

Abstract

Over the last few decades, corrective feedback has been a major area of interest within the language acquisition field. In particular, its role has been subject of controversy due to its questionable effectiveness. To date, several studies have focused on second language contexts, but less has been done in foreign language contexts. Thus, this paper focuses on the latter by reviewing the literature on corrective feedback in English as a Foreign Language contexts. The review covers the process of corrective feedback in the classroom setting, including decisions regarding the errors to target and the feedback provider(s). Moreover, it contains both oral and written corrective feedback types and the preferences teachers and students have of them. Finally, this paper addresses the importance of student uptake and its consequent impact on students. In addition to providing a general overview, this paper suggests that both oral and written corrective feedback have a positive impact on students, more specifically, on two aspects of the classroom setting: speaking skills and writing accuracy. Lastly, further research lines and pedagogical implications are proposed.