Examining the differential effects of focused vs. unfocused ZPD and explicit feedback on second language writing

This study compares the effect of ZPD feedback with explicit feedback on accuracy in second language (L2) writing. It also examines the effect of focused vs. unfocused ZPD feedback on L2 writing development during teacher-student tutorial sessions. Four participants wrote five persuasive essays and were provided with ZPD or explicit feedback either in focused or unfocused form during five tutorial sessions. Following sociocultural theory (SCT) principles, the ZPD feedback provided was graduated, contingent, and dialogical. The results revealed that the learners who received ZPD feedback performed better than those who received explicit feedback in terms of accuracy. The results also showed that the use of focused and unfocused ZPD feedback yields different results both in terms of accuracy across sessions and shifts in the quality of feedback learners need within and across sessions. The findings lend support to the supremacy of SCT-inspired ZPD feedback in general and focused ZPD feedback in particular but raise important questions regarding the nature of teacher-student interaction during tutorial sessions, and the number and function of linguistic targets. The findings are discussed in the light of SCT and cognitive-interactionist views of corrective feedback, and their implications for theory, practice, and research are discussed in detail.