Most second language researchers agree that there is a role for corrective feedback in second language writing classes. However, many unanswered questions remain concerning the linguistic features to target and the type and amount of feedback to offer. This study examined essays by 151 learners of English as a second language (ESL), in order to investigate the effect of either direct or metalinguistic written feedback on errors with the simple past tense and the present perfect tense. This inquiry also considered the extent to which learner differences in language-analytic ability (LAA), as measured by the LLAMA F, mediated the effects of these two types of explicit written corrective feedback. Learners in both feedback groups were provided with corrective feedback on two essays whereas the control group received general comments on content. Learners in all three groups then completed two additional writing tasks to determine whether or not the provision of corrective feedback led to greater gains in accuracy compared to no feedback. Both treatment groups performed better than the comparison group on new pieces of writing immediately following the treatment sessions, yet direct feedback was more durable than metalinguistic feedback for one structure, the simple past tense. Participants with greater LAA proved more likely to achieve gains in the direct feedback group than in the metalinguistic group, whereas learners with lower LAA benefited more from metalinguistic feedback.

Since the 1980s, task-based language teaching (TBLT) has enjoyed considerable interest from researchers of second language acquisition (SLA), resulting in a growing body of empirical evidence to support how and to what extent this approach can promote language learning. Although transferability and generalizability are critical assumptions for TBLT, there is little empirical evidence that task-related language abilities are indeed transferable. The current study was conducted to address this need for empirical research on generalizability and transfer critical for the planning of teaching and assessment of learning by specifically investigating whether or not transfer occurs between two similar pedagogic tasks. Fifty-three randomly assigned low-level adult second language learners were trained in a computer lab to complete one of two pedagogic tasks or no task, after which all participants were tested on two transfer tasks. Although the results of a MANCOVA did not provide statistically significant evidence of transfer, a post hoc analysis on a subset of the lowest proficiency learners suggests that task-related language abilities are transferable. Directions for future research and implications for teaching and assessment are discussed in light of the present findings.

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