XNA Graphics Pipeline

One of the concerns of teachers in the teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL) learners, particularly in communicative classes, is how students‘ errors should be

corrected to provide the feedback they need and to foster their improvement without damaging their fluency and motivation. Another concern is related to what extent this correction would contribute to improving their knowledge (Rohollahzadeh Ebadi, Mohd Saad, & Abedalaziz, 2014a).

These apprehensions arose due to the problems found during error correction in the ESL classrooms. One such problem is the fact that not all students like being corrected although they want to improve their accuracy. Truscott (1999) argues that it makes ―embarrassment, anger, inhibition, and feelings of inferiority‖ (p. 441). Having errors corrected can sometimes be annoying for language learners, and such correction may reduce their willingness to communicate with their teachers or classmates (Brown

Furthermore, if teachers corrected too many student errors, their fluency to speak might be affected because they would fear making mistakes. In this case, students keep stopping and correcting themselves. Teachers‘ attitudes in providing positive feedback and effective treatment of students‘ errors may influence students‘ confidence

and performance in the learning process (Panova & Lyster, 2002, cited in Chen, 2005). On the other hand, if teachers do not correct enough student errors students‘

accuracy would not improve (Rohollahzadeh Ebadi, Mohd Saad, & Abedalaziz, 2014a). Students may continue to make the same mistakes that teachers have never tried correcting. Moreover, Brown (2009, cited in Lyster et al., 2013) conveyed that students think a superiority of active teachers is the ability to correct oral errors instantly.

Also related to the issue of corrective feedback effectiveness is the question of the efficacy of feedback type on the type of grammatical features (Rohollahzadeh Ebadi, Mohd Saad & Abedalaziz, 2014b). Akakura (2009) says acquiring grammatical features in L2 is not easy for all the features. Some features are hard to acquire and cannot be perceived by simple exposure to the language (Ellis, 2006). Thus, to find out the effectiveness of instructing language learning various forms of intervention need to be researched.

Growing interest has been paid to issues of corrective feedback and learner uptake in SLA (Zhang & Rahimi, 2014). Some descriptive studies rooted in data collection in classes (e.g., Panova & Lyster, 2002; Sheen, 2004) and on data collection in laboratories (e.g., Iwashita, 2003; Mackey, Oliver, & Leeman, 2003; Philp, 2003) have tested the kinds of corrective feedback students received and to what extent they take up this correction. A number of empirical studies have tried to inspect the role of corrective feedback in language acquisition (e.g., Ammar & Spada, 2006; Ayoun, 2004; Leeman, 2003; Lyster, 2004). Because most of the studies differed in their purposes and designs, the findings cannot be generalized.

However, the issue of corrective feedback remains controversial in recent years due to the different positions of interface toward implicit and explicit knowledge of ESL learners (i.e., whether explicit knowledge of grammatical structures transforms to implicit knowledge), with the general belief that L2 acquisition is basically different from first language (L1) acquisition, particularly in terms of implicit language knowledge (Bley-Vroman, 1989; Ellis, 2006). Some researchers (Krashen, 1982, 1999, 2000, 2003; Truscott, 1996; Zobl, 1995) believe that learned knowledge or in other words explicit knowledge cannot become acquired knowledge or implicit knowledge (non-interface position). Some others (e.g., Bialystok, 1981a, 1982, 1990, 1991; Hulstijn, 1990) believe that explicit knowledge converts into implicit knowledge by practicing (strong interface). While others (N. Ellis, 2002; Ellis, 2002, 2006a, 2008a; Hinkel & Fotos, 2002; Seliger, 1979) believe that explicit knowledge has a facilitative impact on developing L2 acquisition and contributed indirectly to the development of implicit knowledge (weak interface position; interface issue is discussed in detail in the next chapter; Rohollahzadeh Ebadi, Abedalaziz, Mohd Saad, & Chin, 2014c).

On the other hand, the interest of SLA researchers in interface studies and debates whether explicit knowledge of grammatical forms have a facilitating role or convert to implicit knowledge, highlighted the methodological deficiencies of previous studies in implicit and explicit corrective feedback.

Most of the studies in L2 acquisition measured explicit knowledge rather than implicit knowledge (Ellis, 2008; Norris & Ortega, 2000; Truscott, 1996, 1999). ―Most of the studies that investigated the relative effectiveness of implicit and explicit instruction [specifically corrective feedback] relied on methods of measuring acquisition that favored explicit instruction‖ (Ellis, 2009, p. 20). This measurement

corrective feedback‖ (Ellis et al., 2006, p. 351). Up to now, few researchers have

addressed this issue, mainly due to methodological difficulties in differentiating between implicit and explicit knowledge (Akakura, 2009).

However, there is a consensus (Akakura, 2009; Bowles, 2011; Ellis, 2005; Ellis & Loewen, 2007; Ellis et al., 2006) that it is possible to provide a moderately separate measurement of either implicit or explicit knowledge of language structures based on the tests incorporating the distinguishing criteria of the two types of language knowledge within their design. While constructing pure measurements of either implicit or explicit knowledge is impossible (Ellis, 2004, 2005), these experimental developments in measuring language knowledge have enabled closer approximations in discriminating implicit knowledge from explicit knowledge. Thus, it may now be feasible to better understand whether or not corrective feedback can improve L2 knowledge.

So this study by providing a moderately separate measurement of implicit and explicit knowledge of language structures based on tests incorporating the distinguishing criteria of the two types of language knowledge (Bowles, 2011; Ellis et al., 2006), and inspiring the weak interface position in cognitive psychology, tried to find the effects of implicit and explicit corrective feedback on acquisition of different grammatical features in ESL learners. Therefore, it is concerned with the problem of whether it is possible for both kinds of corrective feedback (i.e., implicit and explicit) to impact on both implicit and explicit knowledge of ESL learners. Additionally, it attempts to investigate whether different grammatical structures benefit from explicit and implicit corrective feedback to the same extent.

The findings of this study could provide a proper guideline for language teachers, educators or language program designers who are in a position to decide about pedagogical programs. Teachers may need to match different methods of corrective

feedback in accordance with different grammatical structures taught. It also could encourage SLA researchers to be more cautious about the interface between implicit and explicit knowledge and the impacts of each on the results of their experimental studies.