Abstract:

In Second Language Acquisition research there are different types of feedback/error correction methods for speaking, for example, recasting, implicit feedback, negative feedback, or praise. Often these methods are teacher-fronted and do not effectively address students’ needs in Communicative Language Teaching. Using a Formative Feedback framework may address some of the difficulties in providing feedback in communicative, or topic based classes.

The students in this study are from a mid-level university in Tokyo, who are required to participate in a topic based English discussion course. There are around eight students per class and students spend on average 60 minutes talking to each other in pair or group activities. The objective of the course is to develop their ability to hold discussions in groups of three or four, for 16 minutes or more on a single topic.

The question we look to address is how students perceive formative feedback strategies in improving their participation in discussions. Analyzing student evaluations we hope to discover which of the different techniques was most helpful for the students, and which brought about the biggest change in their performance.

Keywords:

Speaking, Formative feedback.