Corrective feedback, error types, and learner uptake: The role of individual differences

Abstract

This study investigates Greek-Cypriot English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ perceptions towards error production, and their attitudes towards Corrective Feedback (CF). Moreover, students’ attitudes are explored in relation to other individual differences, in order to demonstrate whether concepts such as age, gender, motivation, and personality traits, influence students’ attitudes. In addition, the study describes error-treatment interaction patterns in Greek-Cypriot EFL classrooms, and interprets students’ reactions to CF in terms of immediate uptake. Furthermore, the relationship between students’ attitudes, other individual differences, and the production of uptake is explored, and the reasons for the success of CF are interpreted. The study adopts a mixed methods research approach through the collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data, in the form of questionnaires and naturalistic classroom data. Findings revealed Greek-Cypriot EFL students’ awareness about error production, and their positive attitudes towards CF. Outcomes also indicated that students’ individual differences explained variances in their attitudes towards error-related issues. Additionally, the study found the distributions of error, CF, and uptake types, and the relations between errors and CF, as well as between CF and uptake, in naturalistic Greek-Cypriot EFL classrooms. What is more, the study identified emerged CF techniques, characteristics, and combinations of CF types that could help students’ immediate reactions to CF. Lastly, the study showed a relation between students’ attitudes, other individual differences, and the production and quality of uptake, as well as features of CF that could affect students’ immediate uptake, irrespective of students’ attitudes towards the relevant CF techniques.