Teachers’ practices of corrective feedback in beginner L2 Chinese classrooms

This study investigates teachers‟ oral corrective feedback (CF) practices in beginner L2 Chinese classrooms in Taiwan. Data from three L2 Chinese teachers‟ corrective feedback and the responses of 32 learners from 13 countries were collected, and quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. Results from 1,456 instances of corrective feedback indicate that recasts were the most frequently exerted CF type and explicit CF occurred least among the interactional feedback in beginner L2 Chinese classrooms; moreover, pronunciation errors more frequently received recasts and prompts. Short-term explicit CF was utilized to enhance the learners‟ tonal accuracy, but learners might have no chance to modify their output. Findings suggest teachers‟ CF provision was dynamic and student-centered with learner participation to foster reciprocal communication in beginner L2 Chinese classrooms. The practices of recasts, explicit CF, and prompts vary depending on teachers‟ perceptions, limited timeframe, and learners‟ responses. The inclusion of teachers‟ orientations contributes to understanding the nature of corrective feedback and teaching processes in beginner L2 Chinese classrooms