The Effect of Teacher Electronic Feedback on Japanese SFL Basic Learners' Speaking Improvement

Abstract

Generally, second or foreign language (SFL) classes are unable to provide sufficient opportunities for personalized speaking practice due to the time constraints of classroom hours. For decades, existing computer-mediated feedback (CMF) studies have proved that out-of-class speaking practice with audio recording effectively improves learners' speaking performance. Although such CMF studies have enabled language teachers to provide teacher electronic feedback (TEF) outside classroom hours, the best method of providing TEF had not been established and the effect of TEF had been unclear in speaking classes. This research proposes a practical method of providing TEF using an online oral repetition practice support system, 'ORP Gym'. To investigate the effect of TEF, the controlled experiment was conducted on an online Japanese SFL basic course at an Indian university. Six professional online evaluators were trained and employed to generate TEF. Sixty-seven Indian undergraduate students, all are beginners, participated in the experiment. As the result of the pretest and posttest analysis, the experimental group who practiced with TEF showed statistically significantly greater learning gain in grammar error categories than the control group who practiced without TEF. Since ORP Gym can be deployed for other language courses, the proposed method promotes the further investigation of TEF in different levels and language courses.