Handling Oral Error Feedback in Language Classrooms

Abstract

Good oral error feedback strategies can boost student motivation, advance language learning, and increase student perception of instructional effectiveness, but the oral error feedback literature offers a confusing picture of what is appropriate feedback. Many teachers have heard that recasts, a type of feedback that involves reformulating the student’s error into the correct form, is an appropriate approach, especially because it may avoid increasing student anxiety. Other teachers have probably heard that recasts are not effective and that pushing students to self-correct is a more appropriate technique. In fact, the research literature on oral error feedback has advocated both perspectives, and some writers have even advocated against providing error feedback altogether. This paper looks at four error feedback interactions from class observations in an EFL context to highlight issues that may help teachers make appropriate decisions for handling errors in their classrooms. These feedback interactions come from the author’s doctoral research (Margolis, 2007). The paper first examines the nature of errors and feedback in the classroom, then identifies key decision points in error feedback interactions, and finally suggests a framework for evaluating oral error feedback effectiveness.