teaching phrasal verbs through call: does feedback type matter?

Despite the researchers’ much attention to computer assisted language learning in recent years, studies on electronic feedback in second language learning are scarce. the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of two types of feedback; namely underlining and description in a call setting on efl learner’ success in recognition and production of phrasal verbs. the study went on to investigate the attitude of the two groups toward the type of feedback they received. to this end, 60 upper-intermediate efl high school students in two classes participated in the study. the teaching materials including 70 unfamiliar phrasal verbs were presented in 10 sessions through similar visual and auditory inputs. the students were subsequently required to write 3 sentences for each new phrasal verb as their homework and deliver their jobs to the teacher through emails. the two experimental groups received corrective feedback electronically in the forms of underlining and description respectively. after the treatment period, the learners in each group attended the final test composed of two subsections of recognition and production. the scores obtained from the test in the two groups were analyzed through two independent sample t-test. the results revealed that despite the progress the two groups made in learning the phrasal verbs, none of them outperformed the other significantly. the positive effects of the aforementioned types of feedback were further confirmed when 10 randomly selected students of each group took part in a semi-structured interview to investigate their viewpoints toward the type of feedback they received. the results of the interview revealed that participants of both groups had very positive attitudes toward the e-feedback they had received.