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ORAL FEEDBACK IN CLASSROOM SLA

A Meta-Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 April 2010

Roy Lyster  and
Kazuya Saito
Roy Lyster*
Affiliation:
McGill University
Kazuya Saito*
Affiliation:
McGill University
*
*Address correspondence to: Roy Lyster, Department of Integrated Studies in Education, McGill University, 3700 McTavish St., Montreal, QC H3A 1Y2, Canada; e-mail: roy.lyster@mcgill.ca; or Kazuya Saito, Department of Integrated Studies in Education, McGill University, 3700 McTavish St., Montreal, QC H3A 1Y2, Canada; e-mail: kazuya.saito@mail.mcgill.ca.
*Address correspondence to: Roy Lyster, Department of Integrated Studies in Education, McGill University, 3700 McTavish St., Montreal, QC H3A 1Y2, Canada; e-mail: roy.lyster@mcgill.ca; or Kazuya Saito, Department of Integrated Studies in Education, McGill University, 3700 McTavish St., Montreal, QC H3A 1Y2, Canada; e-mail: kazuya.saito@mail.mcgill.ca.
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Abstract

To investigate the pedagogical effectiveness of oral corrective feedback (CF) on target language development, we conducted a meta-analysis that focused exclusively on 15 classroom-based studies (N = 827). The analysis was designed to investigate whether CF was effective in classroom settings and, if so, whether its effectiveness varied according to (a) types of CF, (b) types and timing of outcome measures, (c) instructional setting (second vs. foreign language classroom), (d) treatment length, and (e) learners’ age. Results revealed that CF had significant and durable effects on target language development. The effects were larger for prompts than recasts and most apparent in measures that elicit free constructed responses. Whereas instructional setting was not identified as a contributing factor to CF effectiveness, effects of long treatments were larger than those of short-to-medium treatments but not distinguishable from those of brief treatments. A simple regression analysis revealed effects for age, with younger learners benefiting from CF more than older learners.

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Type
Research Articles
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 32 , Special Issue 2: The Role of Oral and Written Corrective Feedback in SLA , June 2010 , pp. 265 - 302
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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