ERIC Number: EJ1098974
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0957-1736
EISSN: N/A
The Role of Incidental Unfocused Prompts and Recasts in Improving English as a Foreign Language Learners' Accuracy
Rahimi, Muhammad; Zhang, Lawrence Jun
Language Learning Journal, v44 n2 p257-268 2016
This study was designed to investigate the effects of incidental unfocused prompts and recasts on improving English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' grammatical accuracy as measured in students' oral interviews and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) grammar test. The design of the study was quasi-experimental with pre-tests, immediate post-tests and delayed post-tests. From three intact advanced EFL classes, three groups were formed: recast (n = 20), prompt (n = 20) and control (n = 20). Teachers in the two experimental groups responded to student grammatical errors with, respectively, recasts or prompts, while the grammatical errors of the control group were ignored and content feedback only was provided. The overall accuracy was measured by means of oral interview scores given by two trained raters and the grammar section of paper-based TOEFL. One-way repeated measures ANOVAs with post-hoc comparisons indicated that both prompt and recast groups significantly outperformed the control group, and the prompt group performed better than the recast group both in the immediate and delayed post-tests. Although attempts were made to make learners aware of the purpose of corrective feedback (CF), these findings show prompts which pushed learners to notice and self-correct their grammatical errors were more facilitative in improving their grammatical accuracy than recasts. Overall, these results suggest that the understanding, noticing, mental processing and active repair that prompting brings about are key factors in improving adult EFL learners' general oral accuracy. Implications for more effective unfocused prompts and recasts are also discussed.
Descriptors: English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Statistical Analysis, Advanced Students, Cues, Control Groups, Accuracy, Grammar, Error Correction, Second Language Instruction, Feedback (Response), Interviews, Oral Language, Pretests Posttests, Language Tests, Cognitive Processes, Quasiexperimental Design, Role, Foreign Countries, Teaching Methods
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Iran
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: International English Language Testing System; Test of English as a Foreign Language
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A