The Effect of Direct Corrective Feedback on the Correct Usage of the Preposition of Time

Abstract

Based on the inconclusive results of the efficacy of corrective feedback (CF), this study investigated the outcomes of direct corrective feedback given to 19 students (n=19) in the experimental group compared to the 16 students (n=16) who received no feedback. Both groups have beginner level English proficiency which is based on the placement test result. A quantitative design using SPSS version.21 was applied in analyzing the data. Analysis showed a significant improvement in the performance of the experimental group. The results indicated that direct corrective feedback provide positive reinforcement on grammatical learning, in this case, the use of correct preposition of time. Further analysis also showed that being able to recognize errors in the targeted linguistic features, as posited by Schmidt’s Noticing (2010) and Swain’s Output (2005) Hypothesis, helped students to improve their output production. Due to the small participants involved, the findings cannot be generalised, thus more research needs to be done on a bigger population so as to confirm the findings.