Abstract:
Although L2 researchers agree that written corrective feedback (WCF) improves L2
learners' grammatical accuracy, few systematic studies have investigated the effect
of computer-mediated feedback on improving L2 learners' grammatical accuracy.
This study was an attempt to investigate the comparative effects of two types of
WCF (asynchronous computer-mediated and conventional paper-and-pen
metalinguistic feedback on intermediate L2 learners’ use of verb tense. The
participants were 49 L2 learners chosen via convenience sampling whose ages
ranged from 18-25. They were in three intact settings in Simin Institute in Tehran.
They were assigned into three groups including two experimental groups and one
control group. To measure the participants' knowledge of verb tense before
treatment, a pretest was administered. In the next step, the experimental groups
received metalinguistic feedback in separate settings whereas the control group did
not receive any treatment. Finally, a posttest was used to measure the participants'
knowledge of verb tense after the treatment. Though the ANOVA findings
suggested that both types of WCF resulted in the improvement of the participants’
verb tense accuracy, the effect of computer-mediated asynchronous feedback on the
use of verb tense was more profound. In a conclusion, WCF had a significant effect
on the verb tense accuracy of intermediate L2 learners.
Machine summary:
This study was an attempt to investigate the comparative effects of two types of WCF (asynchronous computer-mediated and conventional paper-and-pen metalinguistic feedback on intermediate L2 learners’ use of verb tense.
g. , Bitchener & Knoch, 2008; Bitchener, Young, & Cameron, 2005; Chandler, 2003; Sheen, & Ellis, 2011; Sheen, Wright, & Moldawa, 2009; Shintani & Ellis, 2014) have provided evidence that WCF develops L2 learning process and leads to improvement in L2 learners' grammatical accuracy.
g. , Castaneda & Cho, 2013; Lee, Cheung, Wong, & Lee, 2013; Li & Zhu, 2013; Wang, 2014).
The 2 experimental groups received focused direct CF with the following 60 Journal of Modern Research in English Language Studies 5(3),55-72 (2018) differences: The synchronous corrective feedback group received synchronous feedback on grammatical errors during writing tasks, whereas the asynchronous corrective feedback learners received feedback after the tasks.
Instruments The instruments included writing tasks, a pretest, and a posttest to measure the participants' use of verb tense as a result of computer-mediated asynchronous and conventional paper-and-pen metalinguistic feedback.
Moreover, to answer the first research question, a mixed between-within ANOVA was conducted to 64 Journal of Modern Research in English Language Studies 5(3),55-72 (2018) examine the effect of the direct and metalinguistic feedback on the participants' writing grammatical accuracy.
2. Discussion This study examined the effect of one type of WCF (metalinguistic feedback) in different settings (conventional and asynchronous) on the intermediate L2 learners' use of verb tense.