Engagement with Written Corrective Feedback: Examination of Feedback Types and Think-Aloud Protocol as Pedagogical Interventions

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Engagement with Written Corrective Feedback: Examination of Feedback Types and Think-Aloud Protocol as Pedagogical Interventions
Language: English
Authors: Mahmoud Abdi Tabari (ORCID 0000-0002-8022-5415), Masatoshi Sato (ORCID 0000-0001-7111-3406), Yizhou Wang
Source: Language Teaching Research. 2026 30(5):2865-2898.
Availability: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 34
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Feedback (Response), Error Correction, Protocol Analysis, Intervention, Teaching Methods, Second Language Instruction, Writing Instruction, Writing Evaluation, Revision (Written Composition), Syntax, Undergraduate Students, English (Second Language), Universities, Written Language, Essays
DOI: 10.1177/13621688231202574
ISSN: 1362-1688
1477-0954
Abstract: This study examined the combined effects of written corrective feedback (WCF) and think-aloud protocols (TAPs) as two types of pedagogical intervention for improving the revision quality of second language (L2) writing. With a quasi-experimental design, it explored whether TAPs trigger deeper processing of WCF under two WCF-type conditions: direct or indirect WCF. Participants were 80 high-intermediate learners of English as a second language (ESL) at a US university who were divided into (1) direct WCF+TAPs; (2) direct WCF-only; (3) indirect WCF+TAPs; and (4) indirect WCF-only. The impacts of the interventions were gauged by changes in seven subsystems of complexity-accuracy-lexis (CAL) between the first and final drafts of narrative essays. Results showed differential impacts of the four conditions depending on the linguistic dimensions, including some negative impacts of TAPs. Participants' comments during TAP sessions were used to triangulate the interventions' effects. We conclude that WCF and TAPs promoted different types of processing; while WCF contributed to the potential restructuring of learners' interlanguage systems, TAPs triggered learners' higher-order thinking and served as a self-reflection tool to make strategic decisions in revising the text.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1508109
Database: ERIC
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