Interactional Effects of Feedback Type and Target Structure on Accuracy in L2 Writing

This study examined whether the efficacy of written corrective feedback (CF) on grammatical accuracy of L2 learners’ writing is contingent upon interaction between its type and complexity of its target structure. Written CF types in focus were direct CF and indirect CF. The English articles and the hypothetical conditional were taken as relatively less and more complex structure respectively. One hundred fifty-seven Korean university learners of English formed six groups. Three groups assigned for each target structure comprised one control group and two treatment groups that received direct CF or indirect CF. The participants performed dictogloss on four occasions and writing from the first, the third, and the fourth occasions constituted pretest, immediate posttest, and delayed posttest respectively. The results showed that there were interactional effects. While direct CF improved learners’ accuracy of both target structures, indirect CF worked favorably only for the hypothetical conditional. Improved accuracy through written CF was retained over time for the articles but such endurance did not emerge for the hypothetical conditional. (167 words)