The Effects Of Recast And Explicit Error Correction On Second Language Acquisition Of Elementary Level Chinese Students

Corrective feedback is one of the most important areas of research on second language acquisition,and research has focused on three main issues: whether corrective feedback is beneficial to second language acquisition,whether there are differences in the effects of different forms of corrective feedback on second language acquisition,and the main factors affecting the effects of corrective feedback.However,the current research is mainly concerned with English as a second/foreign language,and there is a lack of research on corrective feedback for Chinese as a target language,and there is a lack of empirical research on Chinese classroom teaching.In this study,the primary level Chinese students at Torquay Boys’ Grammar School were used as the target language,with recasting and explicit error correction as the forms of error correction,and grammatical and lexical errors as the content of error correction.The experimental design of "pre-test-instructional intervention(explicit error correction and recasting)-immediate post-test-delayed post-test" was used to investigate the differences in the effects of these two forms of feedback on the acquisition of Chinese language by elementary level students.The study aims to answer the following three questions:(1)Does error correction feedback help students to acquire Chinese?(2)Do different forms of error correction have different effects on Chinese language acquisition among students of the same(elementary)language level?(3)What are the reasons for the differences in the effectiveness of error correction feedback?The results of the study show that,firstly,error correction feedback has a positive effect on learners’ learning and the difference between immediate and delayed post-tests is not significant,indicating that the effect of error correction feedback is relatively stable and long-lasting.Secondly,there were significant differences in the effects of different forms of error correction feedback on learners’ acquisition.In the case of corrective feedback for grammatical errors,the recast group was more effective than the explicit error correction group in promoting learning;in the case of corrective feedback for vocabulary errors,the explicit error correction feedback was more effective than the recast group.Therefore,it is important to choose the corrective feedback method that is suitable for different types of errors and learners in practice,and not to generalise.Third,the factors that influence the difference in the effect of error correction feedback.Firstly,the type of learner’s bias,with the same form of error correction feedback,the different types of learner’s bias showed different effects.Also,through questionnaires and follow-up interviews in the qualitative study,learners’ personalities and attention levels were investigated.Learners with extroverted personalities were inclined to receive more explicit error-correcting feedback that was more directive,while learners with introverted personalities were inclined to receive recast or non-error-correcting feedback that did not directly point out the bias.Finally,in terms of student attention,students paid more attention to "explicit error correction feedback" when the number of students in each experimental group was consistent.Overall,this study provides empirical data for the study of error correction feedback in Chinese as a target language,and discusses the effects of error correction feedback on Chinese language learning,the different forms of error correction feedback and the factors that affect the effects of error correction feedback,providing a valuable reference for Chinese language teaching.