EFL Learners’ Modified Output and their Perceptions of Recast during Face-to-Face, Audio-based and Video-based Synchronous Mobile-mediated Communication

Abstract

Taking into account the facilitative role of mobile-mediated communication for promoting EFL learners’ L2 development, this study investigated Iranian EFL learners’ perceptions of recast and their modified output through face-to-face, audio, and video-based mobile-mediated communication. To this end, sixty intermediate EFL learners at two different language institutes were selected. They were randomly assigned into three groups namely, face-to-face, audio- and video-based conditions. During mobile-mediated interactions in three sessions, the participants received recasts for their errors, and then listened to the recorded episodes of their incorrect utterances followed by interlocutors’ feedback via stimulated recall interviews. Afterwards, learners’ stimulated recall interviews were collected in relation to learners’ perceptions of recasts they received. The results of Chi-Square analysis revealed that the audio-based group had more accurate perceptions of recasts provided to them compared to the other two groups. Moreover, the analysis of learners’ modified output indicated no statistical significance among the three groups. The study concluded that mobile-delivered recasts can be considered as noticeable to EFL learners as the conventional face-to-face ones.