Corrective Feedback through Computer-Mediated Communication in EFL College Level

The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of written corrective feedback (CF) in Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) on the English language ability of Korean college students. This also investigated their attitudes toward direct-CF and indirect-CF in CMC. This study was carried out with three Korean EFL college students for fourteen weeks. They wrote essays weekly and uploaded them to a blog. One of the researchers gave each essay feedback-direct CF for the first seven weeks and indirect CF for the second seven weeks. The essays were analyzed, based on the grounded theory, for the development of learner language. There were three major findings: Firstly, there was a gradual improvement in accuracy, fluency, and complexity. However, one of the participants showed different fluency and complexity performance depending on different writing tasks and learning strategies. Secondly, written CF in CMC was helpful in reducing errors in all error categories. Finally, the students reported that they preferred to receive indirect CF. This study shows important pedagogical implications about CF, bringing into attention to the most effective method of written CF and the role that CMC can play in providing the feedback.