Associations Between L2 Proficiency and Efficacy of Corrective Feedback Types

This study examined the relative effectiveness of recasts, explicit correction, and metalinguistic prompts on developing English past progressive forms among second language (L2) learners, and whether the effectiveness of each feedback type was differently associated with L2 proficiency. A total of 197 Japanese learners of English as a foreign language were divided into recast, explicit correction, metalinguistic prompt, task-only, and test control groups. The first three groups performed tasks and received corrective feedback (CF). The task-only group performed the same tasks as the CF groups but did not receive CF. The test control group did not perform the tasks and solely took pretests and posttests. The results showed that explicit types of feedback (explicit correction and metalinguistic prompts) were more effective than implicit feedback (recasts). Further, simple regression analyses showed that L2 proficiency was significantly associated with gains in scores of the recast and metalinguistic prompt groups but not the explicit correction group. These results suggest that L2 proficiency differentially influences the effectiveness of different CF types.