A Case Study On Learner Error, Teacher Corrective Feedback And Learner Uptake In English Class

Recently teacher’s corrective feedback receives increasing attention. Researchers carry out many studies about it from different aspects, such as corrective feedback(CF) types, factors that influence the effect of CF, but most of them are interested in the relationship between teacher CF and learner uptake. Lyster and Ranta(1997)’s study is one of the earliest studies that explore the relationship, but this study does not take leaner error type into consideration. If different types of error are given different corrective feedback, it may achieve better effect. Based on the hypothesis, the current study aims to explore:1) students and teachers’opinions about CF;2) the distribution of learner error type, teacher CF, and learner uptake, and the relationship among them;3) the difference between students’and teachers’ opinions about CF and teachers’ actual behavior of error correction.This study observes two classes90students and carries out the questionnaire survey among the students and2teachers. The study finds that1) both teachers and students find corrective feedback in classroom very necessary2) students often commit phonological and lexical errors which also lead to most of teacher’s feedback.3)of the six types of CF (explicit correction, elicitation, clarification request, metalinguistic feedback, repetition, and recast), the most often used is explicit correction and the least two frequently used are repetition and recast, which is quite the opposite of Lyster and Ranta’s study. In Lyster and Ranta’s study, recast is the most frequently used type, and explicit correction is seldom used.4) explicit correction, elicitation, and metalinguistic feedback which are often used by the teachers lead to most of the uptake. The author compares the results with Lyster and Ranta’s (1997), and analyzes the difference and similarities between the two, and then obtains some implications as follows:teachers should apply students’favorite CF type, explicit correction properly. But they also need to try other CF, by which they may find the most suitable way for themselves and students.