The Efficacy of Focused Written Corrective Feedback: Does It Vary with Number and Complexity of Target Structures?

The Efficacy of Focused Written Corrective Feedback: Does It Vary with Number and Complexity of Target Structures?

This study aims to explore whether the effects of focused written corrective feedback (WCF) are affected by the number and grammatical complexity of its target structures. To fulfill the purpose, English articles and hypothetical conditional were chosen as less and more complex target structure. Sixty seven Korean college students were assigned to one of three experimental groups or a control group, and conducted four writing tasks. The experimental groups were distinguished by target structure of WCF they received: articles only, hypothetical conditional only, or both structures. The control group received no WCF. The students’ first, third and fourth writing served as pretest, immediate posttest and delayed posttest, respectively. The results revealed that focused WCF had short-term beneficial effects on improving accuracy of using either structure whether it targeted one or both. However, such short-term effects were not sustained over time for the more complex structure when WCF targeted both structures. The findings are discussed from SLA perspectives and pedagogical implications are suggested. (162 words)