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Despite ample research examining second (L2) and foreign language (FL) teacher feedback, research situated in French as a foreign language (FFL) contexts is scarce, in particular studies that examine the beliefs and practices of corrective written feedback (WCF) among FFL teachers. The present study seeks to address this gap by investigating the WCF beliefs and practices of FFL teachers in an undergraduate program in Costa Rica. The participants in this study were five teachers teaching in an FFL program in the Modern Languages School at a large university in Costa Rica. Data were gathered using an online questionnaire, a semi-structured interview, and samples of students' writing with teacher feedback. The findings revealed that the participants held common beliefs concerning writing, teaching writing, feedback provision in an FL, and the interdependent relationship among teaching, learning, and feedback in an FFL writing class. The results also showed that participants' beliefs and practices regarding various aspects of written corrective feedback (CF) tended to be aligned, specifically in terms of the use of comprehensive indirect error-coded WCF and the use of evaluation grids. Implications and future research avenues are discussed.

Corrective feedback (CF) is an important part of effective instruction, and a rich body of research has investigated how best to implement various CF strategies and approaches. Researchers have increasingly become aware of individual differences that have an impact on the effect and effectiveness of CF. One area of individual difference that has been shown to influence learning outcomes is personality; yet, findings have been inconsistent, and the influence of learners' personality traits on oral CF effectiveness has largely been neglected. This study aimed to fill this gap by investigating how learners with different personalities experience and benefit from different types of oral CF. Situated in an intact class of adult language-learners in an academic context, data collection included a Five Factor Model (FFM) personality test, video and audio recordings of classroom activities, and individual interviews/stimulated-recall sessions. The findings of this study suggest that personality traits do appear to play a role in how students experience CF. Relationships between global FFM personality traits and CF response emerged: competitiveness and perfectionism characteristics appeared influential, and a possible interaction between agreeableness and neuroticism is discussed. Pedagogical implications are suggested.

This comparative, classroom-based study investigated the effect and effectiveness of introducing a focus on form approach to a content-based, occupation-specific language program for adults. Thirty-six adults in two classes participated in a 10-week study. One group of 16 adults received content-based instruction that included a focus on form component while the other group of 20 adults received the same content-based instruction with a focus on meaning only. Pre-tests/post-tests/delayed post-tests measured learning of two grammatical forms, the present conditional and the simple past tense, as well as occupational content knowledge. Results indicated significant gains on most of the language measures for both learner groups but significant advantages for the form-focused group on the content knowledge tests. The results are discussed in relation to the impact of specific strategies designed to focus on form and the relationship between attention to form and comprehension of content in the context of content-based language programs. (Contains 6 tables and 1 figure.)

Research and development in language teacher education and, more recently, teacher accreditation has had enormous impact on the professional lives of ESL teachers in Canada. There has been less interest, however, in examining the career development and employment experiences of accredited ESL teachers as they transition from TESL programs to ESL classrooms. In this article, we report on a study examining this issue for ESL teachers of adults in Ontario, in which 147 ESL teachers responded to a survey and a select group participated in follow-up interviews. The data were collected for a broader study investigating the link between teacher education and teaching efficacy of novice ESL teachers. Quantitative analysis of the survey data revealed the professional backgrounds and career development of recently accredited ESL teachers in Ontario. Qualitative data analysis revealed concerns with employment in the first years of practice. The findings suggested a high risk of attrition for novice ESL teachers and highlighted the impact of current teacher education programs and the professional landscape of ESL teaching on their career development. We discuss the implications of these findings for TESL institutions, accreditation bodies, and ESL teachers.

A survey of workers participating in a manufacturing plant workplace English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program resulted in these suggestions: schedule classes during the work day, with class time paid for, replace a cash incentive program; hold lessons in a meeting room, not cafeteria; and involve greater number of employees and employer in program development. (Author/MSE)

This study investigated the views of teachers and learners regarding the timing of grammatical instruction, conceptualized as a distinction between isolated and integrated form-focused instruction (FFI) proposed by Spada and Lightbown (2008). Both types of FFI are described as taking place in primarily meaning-based communicative classrooms. They differ in that isolated FFI occurs separately from communicative activities, whereas integrated FFI occurs during communicative activities. Using this theoretical distinction, the researchers developed teacher and learner questionnaires and validated them as measures of both constructs supported by factor analysis. The questionnaires were administered to explore the views of teachers and learners in two contexts, ESL in Canada and EFL in Brazil. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the questionnaire data indicate a distinct preference for integrated FFI across groups (i.e., teachers and learners) and contexts (i.e., EFL and ESL). At the same time teachers and learners also acknowledged the value of isolated FFI. These views recognizing the important roles played by both integrated and isolated FFI are consistent with those discussed in the instructed second language acquisition literature. Teachers and learners also drew attention to contextual and individual differences that may have an impact on decisions about the timing of grammatical instruction.

This study investigated the relationship between task complexity, second language (L2) learners' response and awareness of corrective feedback provided in the form of recasts during teacher–student interaction. Drawing on Robinson's Triadic Componential Framework, the study examined how degrees of task complexity created by two specific task characteristics had an impact on learners' responses (referred to as uptake), and their reported noticing of grammatical and lexical recasts. Data documenting learners' uptake, operationalized as changes in response to feedback during interactions and noticing of recasts, as indicated in students' self reports of detection and attention to recasts, were collected during one-on-one interaction sessions and stimulated recall sessions with ESL learners in Canada. Frequency analysis and Cochran's Q analysis with multiple McNemar post hoc tests were carried out to compare the uptake and noticing of recasts across different tasks. The results revealed that tasks with different degrees of complexity impacted uptake and noticing of recasts differently. The results also showed that linguistic target, i.e., lexical or grammatical features, modulated the relationship between task complexity and recast uptake and noticing. The study calls for a more nuanced approach to investigating task complexity in research, and for practitioners to consider task complexity in decision making related to the use of corrective feedback and the design of classroom-based tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we compared the effects of two types of form-focused instruction (FFI) on second language (L2) learning and their potential contributions to the development of different types of L2 knowledge. Both types of instruction were pre-emptive in nature, that is planned and teacher generated. In Integrated FFI attention to form was embedded within communicative practice; in Isolated FFI it was separated from communicative practice. Two groups of adult learners of English as a second language (ESL) received 12 hours of Integrated or Isolated FFI on the 'passive' construction. Learners' progress on a written grammar test and an oral communication task indicated no significant differences between the instructional groups over time. However, some advantages were observed for Integrated FFI on the oral production task and for Isolated FFI on the written grammar test. The results are discussed in relation to instructed second language acquisition (SLA) research and transfer appropriate processing theory.

A widely accepted theoretical premise in second language acquisition holds that learners must notice language form in order to learn it. This premise provides support for language instruction that integrates attention to language form with attention to content. Empirical research has shown this combination to be effective; however, little research has investigated how learners attend to form in content-based language contexts. This study was carried out as part of a larger research project investigating the effect and effectiveness of form-focused instruction (FFI) in a content-based language programme. The project used a pre-test/post-test/delayed post-test design to measure language and content outcomes and a retrospective recall protocol to investigate learner attention to language and content. This paper reports on the findings of the recall protocol and the relationship between learner attention and language outcomes. Analysis of the recall data indicated that the participants were able to identify the focus of the instruction they received in reference to content or language. However, no relationship between awareness of language and language outcomes was found. The findings are discussed in the context of content-based language instruction and FFI and the possible role of orientation and depth of processing in learner attention and awareness. (Contains 3 tables, 1 figure and 1 note.)

This study examined the teacher education of novice teachers of English to speakers of other languages (ESOL). A survey and follow-up interviews were employed to investigate novice teachers' perceptions about four aspects of their teacher preparation: (a) degree of preparedness to teach after graduating from a teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) program, (b) preparedness after classroom experience (up to 3 years), (c) sense of efficacy to complete teaching practices in adult ESOL classrooms, and (d) perceptions of what was useful to them in the TESOL program. Accredited ESOL teachers with less than 3 years of experience (N = 115) completed a questionnaire that explored their perceptions of preparedness and efficacy to teach in adult ESOL programs in Ontario, Canada. Eight teachers participated in follow-up semistructured interviews. Findings show that although, overall, novice teachers increased their perceptions of preparedness by gaining experience in the classroom, their sense of efficacy to perform within certain teaching expectations was task specific and highly situated. The practicum and "real" teaching experiences were found to be the most influential aspects of the induction programs. These findings have implications for teacher educators, TESOL institutions, and accreditation bodies that are committed to preparing qualified teachers for adult ESOL programs. (Contains 2 figures, 1 footnote and 3 tables.)