Immediate vs Delayed Correction Feedback (CF) and Accuracy of Oral Production: The Role of Anxiety

The objective of this study was twofold: a) to evaluate L2 learners’ perspectives on the level of anxiety caused by different corrective feedbacks (Immediate vs. Delayed) and b) to uncover students’ views towards the effects of anxiety on the accuracy of their oral production. Following an OPT, 30 students were selected as the main cohort of the study and then randomly assigned to two groups of 15. To collect the data, a close-ended questionnaire proposed by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) along with an additional open-ended questionnaire (developed by the researcher) was administered to the participants at the end of the term. Based on the results, it was noticed that although all the participants expressed some levels of anxiety when receiving error corrections, the level of their anxiety was found to be significantly different and learners of the G1 who received immediate CF experienced more anxiety than the G2. Furthermore, results revealed that level of anxiety helped students to improve their accuracy during speech. Finally, the study recommends material developers to conduct natural communicative tasks and opportunities in which learners perform them naturally and without fear of making mistakes.