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Article published In:
Technology-mediated feedback and instruction
Edited by Hossein Nassaji and Eva Kartchava
[ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics 170:2] 2019
► pp. 154–179

A longitudinal observation of technology-mediated feedback for L2 learners of German

| Simon Fraser University

This article provides a longitudinal study of L2 learners of German who used a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) system that formed part of their regular classroom instruction. The 42 learners were enrolled in four consecutive university language courses at a beginner and intermediate level. The study compares two different feedback types, metalinguistic feedback and repetition, which were provided for the same exercise type over the course of four semesters. The exercise type required learners to build sentences from a set of predefined, uninflected words. While the grammatical focus of the exercises changed over time, many of the same grammatical constructions were present in all four courses. The study discusses the changes in learner performance and error correction behavior as students became more proficient in their knowledge of the L2 grammar and were exposed to the technology-mediated feedback that remained consistent throughout system use over the four language courses.

Keywords: feedback, computer-assisted language learning, German, grammar instruction
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Corrective feedback in CALL
  • 3.Our study
    • 3.1Study participants and our ICALL system
    • 3.2Background questionnaire
    • 3.3Practice phase
    • 3.4Metalinguistic feedback
    • 3.5Repetition
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Comparison of two feedback types
    • 4.2Analysis of variance
      • 4.2.1Effects of feedback type and course on correct responses
      • 4.2.2Effects of feedback type and course on errors
      • 4.2.3Effects of feedback type and course on skipping exercises
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 5 August 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.19009.hei
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