SummaryA question that received considerable interest from language teachers and researchers alike is what corrective feedback (CF) should look like to be maximally beneficial to learners’ second language development. This chapter zooms in on two feedback types that have been distinguished in the CF literature: focused and unfocused CF. After a careful characterization of these two feedback options, theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical arguments are discussed for both of them. The chapter furthermore provides a synthesis of oral and written feedback studies into the (relative) value of focused and unfocused CF. It concludes with suggestions for further research and implications for L2 classrooms.
Although there is consensus in the current literature that feedback plays a fundamental role tostudent performance and learning, there is debate about what makes it effective. Particularly,some assessment instruments, like the National Student Survey in the United Kingdom, revealthat evaluation and feedback are systematically among the areas that students are less satisfiedwith. The aim of this article is to describe the indirect feedback technique, which was devised andused by the principle author in his previous tenure as a professor at the University of Cadiz inSpain and to reflect on how it can be applied to overcome some of the limitations presented in adifferent context of practice. It is argued that indirect feedback meets many of the principles ofgood practice (facilitation of self-assessment skills, delivery of quality information about thestudents’ learning, encouragement of dialogue, and improvement of teaching) identified by Nicoland McFarlane-Dick (2006).
