THE EFFECT OF SELF/PAIR VS. TEACHER CORRECTION AND TASK REPETITION ON INDIVIDUAL AND PAIR WRITTEN PERFORMANCE

Abstract

A great number of investigations have focused on the subject of task rehearsal (repetition) and its likely influence on language learning. Giving language (L2) learners an opportunity to repeat the task may help them to redistribute their focus on form, since they have already become fairly familiar with the content. Several studies have also documented that providing learners with feedback on their initial task performance has a positive effect on their second performance. Accordingly, this study examined the effects of two types of feedback methods, namely self/pair vs. teacher correction, as well as task repetition (same task repetition and similar task completion) on individual and pair written performances. Six (N=90) groups of EFL learners were asked to write a narrative task individually and three groups in pairs. After task completion, two groups (both in individual and pair groups) received teacher feedback on their writing narrative production, two groups (both in individual and pair groups) attempted to find their mistakes in their own writing (self/pair correction), and the other two groups (control groups) were provided with no feedback or correction on their task performance. After focusing on their mistakes all four groups and the two control groups repeated the same task. Then after a two week interval, a similar task (another narrative task) was given to the learners. Then learners` performances were compared in first (initial performance), second (repetition of the same task) and third (similar task performance) production stages in terms of three measures: complexity, accuracy, and fluency. The results obtained through mixed ANOVA revealed that learners` performances improved in terms of accuracy, fluency, and complexity when they were asked to repeat the same initial task. Learners also benefitted from task repetition when they were asked to perform a similar task. Moreover, the results indicated that individual performances resulted in higher scores of accuracy, fluency, and complexity compared to pair performances. Another finding was that focus on form through self/pair correction and teacher-correction assisted learners in improving their written performance in their second and third productions.