Immediate Uptake of Phonological Corrective Feedback in Language Learning and Retention

As language learners’ phonological errors have attracted substantial attention, error treatment strategies have become an indispensable part of teachers’ repertoire. Research has found positive effects for corrective feedback on language learner uptake; however, the effect has not been proved to be sustained over time. This quasiexperimental study sought to explore whether uptake can reflect language learning and retention through measuring the effectiveness of three common types of oral corrective feedback on Iranian EFL learners’ phonological errors. Fifty-four male intermediate-level learners received a nine-session treatment in the form of recast, elicitation, and metalinguistic feedback during story retelling tasks. Results of comparing and correlating uptake with posttest scores revealed that while recast was found to be the most effective feedback in inducing correct uptake, it was metalinguistic feedback that proved to be the most conducive in learning and retention. Besides, there was no significant relationship between the learners’ scores in uptake and their learning and retention in any groups. This suggests that EFL learners’ immediate reactions to teachers’ input-providing or output-prompting correction could not be a reflection of language development, and more consistent and continuous long-term assessment of the success of corrective feedback has to be envisaged in language teaching methodologies.