The Effect of Implicit Corrective Feedback on English Writing of International Second Language Learners

Debate about the value and the effect of both kinds of corrective feedback, explicit and implicit on second language writing has been prominent in recent years. Second language writing researchers investigate whether written implicit corrective feedback facilitates the acquisition of linguistic features. In contrast, L2 writing researchers generally emphasize the question of whether written corrective feedback helps student writers improve their writing texts and reduces their language errors. Understanding these differences is important because it provides guidelines for English language writing teachers on what are the best way to provide feedback for student writers. A quasi-experimental study was conducted to investigate the effects of implicit corrective feedback on the English writing of international second language learners in a UK educational context. It scrutinizes the application of teacher implicit written feedback in relation to the advancement of the writing skill of second language learners within a short-term period. A case study consisting of a small group of international students received implicit written feedback through codes representing specific types of writing errors. Participants were also interviewed to understand their views regarding teacher implicit written feedback and their reactions towards it. The results of the study revealed that teacher implicit written feedback helped correcting particular type of errors while other errors mandated the intervention of the teacher oral feedback.