Implicit Versus Explicit Feedback in Classroom: An Experimental Study

The quasi-experimental design used in this study aimed at investigating the merits of using two types of corrective feedback, namely recasts and elicitations. Sixty EFL learners were randomly assigned to three groups (recast, elicitation and control group). The instructional intervention targeted the relative clauses. Acquisition was measured by a grammaticality judgment test. The results proved that the experimental groups significantly outperformed the control group. Besides, the results of the one-way ANOVA indicated the greater effectiveness of elicitations in posttest to recast group. However, the results of delayed post test showed no significant differences between the two treatment groups.