Effects of Different Types of Teacher Written Corrective Feedback on Iranian EFL Learners’ Writing Accuracy

Abstract

This research is a quasi-experimental study investigating the effect of different types of teacher written corrective feedback (WCF) on Iranian EFL learners’ writing accuracy focusing on two functions of English articles (the first mention and anaphoric reference) and simple past tense (regular and irregular). Ninety-four Iranian learners of English were assigned to three experimental groups of direct feedback group (n=24), indirect feedback group (n=24), direct+indirect feedback group (n=24), and one control group (n=22). The participating groups’ homogeneity was checked by their performance on the proficiency test and the pre-test. During six treatment sessions, each of the three groups received its associated feedback. The papers with attached comments were returned to the participants. On two occasions (pre-test and post-test), the participants completed a picture description task. The results of one-way ANOVA revealed a statistically significant difference in the performance of the three groups. Furthermore, Scheffe post-hoc analysis indicated that the direct group outperformed direct+indirect group, and direct+indirect group outperformed the indirect group.