Written corrective feedback in an online community: A typology of English language learners’ requests and interlocutors’ responses

Abstract

Studies involving written corrective feedback (WCF) have been integral to first and second language (L1/L2) research for multiple decades. However, scholars have noted that most studies have tended to be researcher-led interventions that occur in a classroom setting. Crucially, little is known about WCF beyond the classroom, especially in nonacademic online environments. The current study investigates this issue by exploring the nature of WCF in an asynchronous online community known as the WordReference language forums. Using a combination of netnography and quantitative methods, over a four-month span, the author investigated: (1) the feedback-seeking behaviors of L2 English learners in an online forum; (2) the extent to which individual learners differed in their feedback-seeking behaviors; and (3) the nature of the WCF given to learners by L1 English-speaking interlocutors. The findings show that learners frequently engaged in a number of feedback-seeking behaviors identified in previous scholarship (e.g., clarification and confirmation requests); however, some learners differed in the types of feedback they sought online. Additionally, the L1 English-speaking interlocutors responded to these requests using WCF types that have not been reported in existing literature. Thus, this study proposes a new typology/classification system for understanding the nature of online feedback.