Two families of oral corrective feedback:
- Reformulations give the learner the correct form: recasts, explicit correction.
- Prompts push the learner to find it: elicitation, metalinguistic clues, clarification requests, repetition.
Learner error used throughout: "She don't like horror films."
Recasts
| Kind | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Full recast | "Oh, she doesn't like horror films?" | Natural, keeps the conversation going; often heard as agreement |
| Partial recast | "Doesn't." | Shorter, more noticeable |
| Stressed recast | "She DOESN'T like them?" | Stress signals the change |
| Recast + prompt | "She doesn't. Say it again?" | Turns it into a learning moment |
| Didactic recast | "She doesn't like - not don't." | Close to explicit correction |
Make recasts work: keep them short, stress the corrected part, use them for one error at a time, pause for the learner to repeat, and follow with a prompt if they do not.
Prompts
| Move | Teacher language | When |
|---|---|---|
| Elicitation (completion) | "She...?" (pause) / "Yesterday I...?" | Learner knows the form; slip |
| Elicitation (question) | "How do we say that with she?" / "What's the past of go?" | Form taught recently |
| Elicitation (reformulate) | "Can you say that again, correctly?" / "Try again." | Higher levels; confident learners |
| Metalinguistic clue | "She - third person." / "Past or present?" / "Check the verb." | Learner knows the rule |
| Metalinguistic question | "Is that right?" / "Do we say don't with she?" | Encourages self-monitoring |
| Clarification request | "Sorry?" / "Pardon?" / "What do you mean?" | Meaning or form; natural in conversation |
| Repetition | "She don't?" (rising intonation, stress on the error) | Signals exactly where the error is |
| Gesture | Finger on the wrong word; thumb over shoulder for past | Fast, does not interrupt |
Explicit correction
"Not don't - doesn't. She doesn't like horror films." Use for new or complex forms, when prompts fail, and when time is short. Ask the learner to repeat the whole sentence.
A feedback sequence
1. Prompt T: "She...?" (wait 3-5 seconds)
2. Stronger cue T: "She - third person." (if no repair)
3. Peer help T: "Can anyone help?" (optional, kind)
4. Give the form T: "She doesn't." (explicit)
5. Repair S: "She doesn't like horror films." (learner says the whole sentence)
6. Move on T: "Good. Why not?" (back to the message)Choosing between recasts and prompts
| Use prompts when | Use recasts when |
|---|---|
| The learner has met the form (it is in their range) | The form is new or above level |
| Accuracy stage, controlled practice | Fluency stage, if correcting at all |
| The error is a slip or a persistent error | The error is lexical or pronunciation (recasts are noticed more) |
| You want self-correction and memory | Time is short or the learner is anxious |
Common teacher habits to change
| Habit | Change to |
|---|---|
| Long full recasts the learner ignores | Partial, stressed recast + "Say it again?" |
| Correcting every error in fluency work | Note errors; delayed correction |
| Asking "Is that right?" then answering immediately | Wait 3-5 seconds |
| Same move every time | Vary: repetition, clue, elicitation |
| Correcting and moving on without repair | Learner says the corrected sentence |
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