Assessing the effect of focused direct and focused indirect written corrective feedback on explicit and implicit knowledge of language learners

Language Testing in Asia

Table 2 Key differences between oral and written corrective feedback (Adapted from Pawlak, 2014)

Oral corrective feedback	Written corrective feedback
Corrective force may not always be clear	Corrective force is usually clear
The feedback is publically available	Feedback only on one’s own errors
The feedback is provided online and offline (i.e., immediate and delayed)	The feedback is provided only offline (i.e., it is delayed)
Relatively straightforward focus (i.e., target language form)	Considerable complexity of focus (i.e., many aspects of second language writing)
Both input-providing (e.g. recast) or output-inducing (e.g. clarification request) corrective techniques are available	Both input-providing (direct correction) or output-inducing (indirect correction) corrective techniques are available
The feedback can be explicit (overt) as well as implicit (covert)	The feedback can only be explicit (overt) as the intervention is evident
The correction can be conducted by the teacher, the learner who erred, or a peer	The correction can be conducted by the teacher, the learner who erred, or a peer
Metalinguistic information possible	Metalinguistic information possible
Conversational or didactic	Mostly didactic
Possible direct impact on implicit, procedural knowledge	Only explicit, declarative knowledge affected in the main