The Effectiveness of Direct and Indirect Written Corrective Feedback on English Collocation Competency: A Quasi – Experiment

Abstract

The primary aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of direct and indirect written corrective feedback (WCF) on English collocational competency of high-performing ESL learners. The study also sought to compare possible differences in the effect of two WCF strategies that help the researcher in identifying the appropriate WCF strategy in improving learners’ collocational competency in the context of the study. Additionally, retention effect of WCF is also investigated in delayed post-tests. Eighty-eight high-performing ESL learners of a public university participated in the quasi-experimental study of two experimental groups and one control group. A series of test namely pre-test, immediate post-test and delayed post-test was administered to collect the data. The groups are labelled ‘Direct group’ that received direct WCF treatment (n=33), ‘Indirect group’ that received indirect WCF (n=25), and ‘Control group’ that received no treatment (n=25). A set of collocation test that was developed by Gyllstad (2009) was adopted and a pilot test was conducted prior to the actual study. The participants were tested in three point of time (pre-test, immediate post-test, and delayed post-test). The findings indicate that there is a positive effect of direct and indirect WCF strategies on collocational competence. Furthermore, direct WCF has the most effect in improving collocational competency of the participants. Finally, both WCF strategies are proven statistically in retaining their effects as demonstrated in the results of delayed post-test. Suggestion for future studies are also discussed.