Analysis of Learner Uptake in Response to Corrective Feedback in Advanced Foreign Language Classrooms: A Case in the United States

Abstract

The article analyzed learner uptake in response to the instructor's corrective feedback (CF) to investigate its types and distribution in an advanced L2 learning environment. Six second language (L2) learners of Chinese at the Advanced-high level (ACTFL, 2002) participated in the study, and the data set showed 739 participant turns (n=739) in the recording of 480 minutes, 236 of them with at least one non-target-like item. The results revealed a high uptake rate (91%), in which self-repair in response to repetition CF accounted for the most among the ten uptake types, off-target was the most frequent needs-repair type, and same-error and hesitation took place infrequently among advanced learners. In addition, the findings suggested that value of non-learner-generated repair to one's L2 development was important, and that a high CF rate (86%) was observed even when communication did not breakdown. This study extends the literature in learner uptake in an advanced L2 instructional setting and urges L2 instructors to consider the content of learner uptake as an indicator of immediate linguistic and pedagogical support that learners can use in their L2 advancement.