The Impact of Recasts on the Syntactic Accuracy of Iranian EFL University Students’ Oral Discourse

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch

Abstract

Among the major issues raised by classroom SLA researchers is the debate on the degree to which teacher’s or learner’s attention should be directed to linguistic features. However, one of the relevant variables in corrective feedback studies which seem to be less operationalized is the differential impact of different types of feedback on the accuracy of the oral performance of the participants. The merits of recasts as one type of feedback commonly used in the classroom have turned to be a controversial issue. The present study examined the impact of recasts in comparison to no-recast on the syntactic accuracy of Iranian EFL university students’ oral discourse. One hundred and nine male and female students majoring in English Language Translation at Islamic Azad University (Central Tehran Branch) took part in the study. The participants were attending the listening and speaking classes. Ten sessions were devoted to the treatment of the experimental group (n=54) who received recasts as feedback to syntactic errors. The control group (n=55), received no recast. A posttest was administered in the 12th session. The teachers introduced a topic and the participants were required to talk about it in 60 seconds. A total of 6540 seconds of the participants’ oral performance were observed and recorded. Analysis of individual participants’ oral data revealed that the recast group outperformed the no-recast group. In other words, recasts were effective in reducing the frequency of syntactic errors of participants’ oral discourse.
 

Keywords

References

Ammar, A. (2008). Prompts and recasts: Differential effects on second language morphosyntax. Language Teaching Research. 12, 183-210.
Ammar, A., & Spada, N. (2006). One size fits all? Recasts, prompts, and L2 learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 28, 543-574.
Baker, N., & Nelson, R. (1984). Recasting and related conversational devices for triggering syntactic development in children. First Language, 5, 3-22.
Bygate, M. (2001). Speaking. In R., Carter and D. Nunan (Eds.), The Cambridge guide to teaching English to speakers of other languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Carroll, S., & Swain, M. (1993). Explicit and implicit negative feedback: An empirical study of the learning of linguistic generalizations. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 15, 357-386.
Chaudron, C. (1997). A descriptive model of discourse in the corrective treatment of learners’ errors. Language Learning, 52, 1-42.
Doughty, C. J. (2001). Cognitive underpinings of focus on form. In: P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp.206-25). NewYork: CambridgeUniversity press.
Doughty, C. J. & Varela, (1998). Communicative focus on form. In: C. J. Doughty & Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition (pp.114-138). New York: CambridgeUniversity Press.
Doughty, C. J., & Williams, J. (1998). Pedagogical Choices in focus on form. In: C. J. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition (pp. 197-262). New York: CambridgeUniversity Press.
Egi, T, (2007). Interpreting recasts as linguistic evidence: The roles of linguistic target, length, and degree of change. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 29, 511-537.
Ellis, R. (2007). The differential effects of corrective feedback on two grammatical structures. In A. Mackey (Ed.), Conversational interaction in second language acquisition (pp. 339-360). Oxford University Press.
Fanselow, J. (1997). The treatment of error in oral work. Foreign Language Annals, 10, 583-593.
Farrar, M. J. (1990). Discourse and the acquisition of grammatical morphemes, Journal of child Language, 17, 607-624.
Farrar, M. J. (1992). Negative evidence and grammatical morpheme acquisition, Developmental Psychology, 28, 90-98.
Harley, B., & Swain, M. (1984). The interlanguage of immersion studentsand its implication for second language teaching. In: A. Davis, C. Criper, & A. Howatt (Eds.), Interlanguage. (pp. 291-311). Edinburg: Edinburg University Press.
Krashen, S. (1981). Second language acquisition and second language learning. Oxford; Pergamon.
Leeman, J. (2003). Recasts and second language development: Beyond negative evidence. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 25, 37-63. 
Lightbown, P. M. (1998). The importance of timing in focus on form. In: C. J. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition (pp.177-196). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Lightbown, P. M., Halter, R. H., White, J. L., & Horst, M. (2002). Comprehension-based learning: The limits of do it yourself. Canadian Modern Language Review, 58, 427-464.
Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (1990). Focus-on-form and corrective feedback in communicative language teaching: Effects on second language learning.’ Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 12, 429-448.
Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (1994). An innovative program for primary ESL in Quebec. TESOL Quarterly, 28, 563-573.
Loewen, S. (2005). Incidental focus on form and second language learning. Studies in Second language Learning, 27/3: 361-86.
Loeowen, S. & Nabei, T. (2007). Measuring the effects of oral corrective feedback on L2 knowledge. In A. Mackey (Ed.), Conversational interaction in second language acquisition (pp.361-337). Oxford University Press.
Long, M. H. (1991). Focus on form: a design feature in language teaching methodology. In: k. de Bot, R. Ginsberg, & C. Krasch (Eds.), foreign language research in cross-cultural perspective (pp.39-52). Amsterstam: Benjamins.
Long, M. H. (1996). The role of linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In: W. C. Ritchie & T. K. Bhatia (Eds.) Handbook of language acquisition: (pp.413-468). San Diego: Academic Press.
Long, M., Inagaki, S., & Ortega, L. (1998). The role of implicit negative feedback in SLA: Models and recasts in Japanese and Spanish. Modern language Journal, 82, 357-371.
Long, M. H., & Robinson, P. (1998). Focus on form: Theory, research and practice. In: C. J. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition (pp.15-41). New York: CambridgeUniversity press.
Lyster, R. (1998a). Recasts, repetition, and ambiguity in L2 classroom discourse. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 20, 51-81.
Lyster, R. (1998b). Negotiation of form, recasts, and explicit correction in relation to error types and learner repair in immersion classrooms. Language Learning, 37, 237-253.
Lyster, R. (2004). Differential effects of prompts and recasts in form-focused instruction. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. 26, 399-432.
Lyster, R. & Ranta, L. (1997). Corrective feedback and learner uptake: Negotiation of form in communicative classrooms. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 19, 37-66.
Panova, I., & Lyster, R. (2002). Patterns of corrective feedback and uptake in an adult ESL classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 36, 573-595.
Mackey, A., & Philip, J. (1998). Conversational interaction and second language development: Recast, responses, and red herrings? Modern Language journal, 82, 338-356.
Mackey, A., & Oliver, R. (2002). International feedback and children’s L2 development. System, 30, 459-477. 
Schmidt, R. (1983). Interaction, acculturation, and the acquisition of communicative competence: A case study of an adult. In: N. Wolfson & E. Judd(Eds.), Sociolinguistics and language acquisition (pp.137-174). Rowley, MA; Newbury House.
Schmidt, R. (1990). The role of consciousness and second language learning. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. 11, 129-158.
Schmidt, R . (1993). Awareness and second language acquisition. Annual Review of applied linguistics 11, 129-158.
Schmidt, R. (2001). Attention.In: P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp.3-32). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Sheen, Y. (2007). The effects of corrective feedback, language aptitude, and learner attitudes on the acquisition of English articles. In A. Mackey (Ed.) Conversational interaction in second language acquisition (pp. 301-322). Oxford University Press.
Sharwood Smith, M. (1981). Consciousness-raising and the second language learner. Applied Linguistics. 2, 118-132.
Sharwood Smith, M. (1991). Speaking to many minds: On the relevance of different types of language information for the L2 learner. Second Language Research, 7, 118-132.
Spada, N. (1997). Form-focused instruction and second language acquisition: A review of classroom and laboratory research. Language Teaching, 29, 73-87.
Swain, M. (1985). Communicative competence: some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development. In: S. M. Gass & C. Madden (Eds.), Input in second language acquisition (pp. 235-253). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Truscott, J. (1999). Form-focused instruction and second language acquisition: A review of classroom and laboratory research. Canadian Modern Language Review, 55, 437-456.
VanPatten, B. (1990). Attending to form and content in the input: an experiment in consciousness. Studies in Second Language Acquisition,12, 287-301.
White, L. (1987). Against comprehensible input. Applied Linguistics, 8, 95-110.
Journal of English Language Pedagogy and Practice
Volume 2, Issue 5
Summer and Autumn 2009
Pages 160-178

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics