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Prompting in CALL: A Longitudinal Study of Learner Uptake
Author(s) -
HEIFT TRUDE
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the modern language journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.486
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1540-4781
pISSN - 0026-7902
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2010.01017.x
Subject(s) - german , spelling , grammar , second language acquisition , computer science , language acquisition , parsing , mathematics education , longitudinal study , corrective feedback , psychology , linguistics , natural language processing , mathematics , statistics , philosophy
This research presents a longitudinal study of learner uptake in a computer‐assisted language learning (CALL) environment. Over the course of 3 semesters, 10 second language learners of German at a Canadian university used an online, parser‐based CALL program that, for the purpose of this research, provided 2 different types of feedback of varying degrees of specificity: Metalinguistic explanations (ME) and metalinguistic clues (MC). Results indicate that feedback specificity affects learner uptake in different ways. Cross‐sectionally, the study reveals significant differences in learner uptake for the 2 more advanced courses, German 103 and 201, whereas for the introductory course, German 102, no significant difference for the 2 feedback types and their effect on learner uptake was found. Results of the longitudinal data indicate that there is a significant increase in learner uptake from German 102 to 201 for the error‐specific feedback (ME), whereas learner uptake for the generic feedback type (MC) varies insignificantly across the 3 courses. Finally, the study shows a significant impact of the 2 feedback types on learner uptake independent of error type (grammar and spelling).