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This quasi-experimental classroom study examines the effects of recasts and negotiated prompts on oral interactions in a foreign language (FL) context where the instructional approach primarily focuses on grammar and accuracy. Ninety adult native speakers of Mandarin Chinese from two intact classes were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups (recast or negotiated prompt) or a control group, and were asked to complete pre-/post-tests on their use of question and past tense forms in English. Between the pre-test and the post-tests, the learners of the two experimental groups had three treatment lessons for feedback outside their usual English classes, the interaction data of which are reported. ANOVA analyses revealed that recasts were highly effective for accuracy development of wh-questions, interrogative questions and irregular past tense verbs. Negotiated prompts showed moderate effectiveness at most times for accuracy development of interrogative questions and both irregular and regular past tense verbs. These findings provide further insights into the role of corrective feedback (CF) in L2 development.

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Two types of corrective feedback, recasts and prompts, have sparked much research in second language (L2) learning and teaching. However, it is still unclear how these two types of feedback draw learners’ attention to the erroneous forms in L2 classes. This study used an open questionnaire to investigate Chinese learners’ perceptions of recasts and negotiated prompts (i.e. clarification requests, elicitations and repetitions) for their English learning. The results show the majority of the comments about the two feedback types were positive, indicating the learners’ overall positive attitudes to error correction. Significantly, most of the comments on the two feedback types accord with scholarly opinions about their usage for L2 learning, such as being able to identify the error made after hearing what the teacher said in the recast. Another example might be engaging in a thinking process on receiving a prompt. However, some of the comments provide new insights about how learners may use the two types of feedback for L2 learning, for example, having a deep impression/memory of what the teacher said in the recast and the difficulty in self-correcting their error following a negotiated prompt. These findings, in particular the new insights, confirm Swain’s (2000) argument that research needs to test scholarly assumptions about pedagogical tasks or devices.

This experimental classroom study investigates the effects of two feedback types on English question formation. Ninety Chinese learners were randomly assigned to either one of two experimental groups (recasts or prompts) or the control group. Between the pre- and posttests, the learners in the experimental groups received the assigned type of feedback that addressed their production of questions during task-based interaction. The effects of the feedback were measured by calculating whether there was an increase in production frequency of targeted question types. The results showed that (1) neither feedback type was effective in increasing the learners’ production of Stage-5 questions, and (2) both feedback types were valuable in improving the learners’ production of accurate questions, but recasts yielded a larger effect than prompts. These findings provide further evidence of feedback usefulness in L2 learning and shed light on English question formation via the pedagogical tool of corrective feedback.