The effectiveness of implicit and explicit error correction on learners' performance

Abstract

The study looked at the effects of correction of learners' errors on learning of grammatical features. In particular, the manner of correction (explicit vs. implicit correction) was investigated. The study also focussed on the effectiveness of explicit and implicit correction of developmental early vs. developmental late features. Fifty-six intermediate level Iranian learners of English were asked to read and retell a written text during an interview. The participants were corrected on their grammatical errors implicitly (using recasts) or explicitly during or following the interview. Based on the corrected errors made by learners, individualised tests were constructed and administered. The scores the learners received on these tests were statistically analysed. Results revealed higher scores for explicitly corrected learners than implicitly corrected ones. The findings lend support to the argument concerning the role of metalinguistic awareness in language learning. Further analysis of the scores showed that developmental early features are learned better with explicit correction and developmental late features with implicit correction. I (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.