Effectiveness of explicit and implicit corrective feedback in a video-based SCMC environment

Abstract

The facilitative role of corrective feedback (CF) in second language (L2) acquisition has been attested in numerous empirical studies. However, despite the increasing popularity of video-supported tools in language education, few studies have examined the effectiveness of CF delivered through video chat. To address this gap, the current study investigated the effect of explicit and implicit corrective feedback (CF) on the acquisition of third person singular –s in a video-based synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) environment. Fifty-six Chinese learners of English were recruited and randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: explicit CF, implicit CF, and control. They completed two interactive tasks over two treatment sessions during which CF was delivered through video chat to the two treatment groups. The effect of CF treatment was assessed by an untimed grammaticality judgement task and an oral elicited imitation task at the time of pretest, immediate posttest, and delayed posttest. The results indicated that the two treatment groups outperformed the control group on both assessment tasks and that there was no significant difference between the two treatment groups. These results point to the benefits of CF in video-based SCMC and challenge the superiority of explicit CF over implicit CF.