The effects of written corrective feedback techniques on EFL students' control over grammatical construction of their written english

Abstract

There has been a controversy over the usefulness of the written corrective feedback (WCF) on the accuracy of ESL/EFL learners' writing - especially after Truscott's assertion that grammar correction is pointless and harmful (1996). This study presents the findings of an investigation of the impact of WCF on 90 intermediate Iranian EFL students. The participants were separated into three groups; then they randomly received direct, indirect or no correction feedback. They created three pieces of writing, pre-test, immediate post-test and delayed post-test. Simple past tense errors were brought into focus in the feedback. The results showed that the recipients of WCF achieved more than those in the control group -suggesting the effectiveness of both kinds of WCF. Therefore, the provision of WCF should be regarded as a potentially valuable technique in instructing writing to EFL learners. © 2011 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland.