Investigating the relationship between linguistic focus of recasts, learning styles and noticing

The efficacy of Corrective Feedback (CF) is contingent on various factors; conflicting results have been obtained regarding the roles of individual differences and the linguistic focus of CF. The current study investigated the relationship between the linguistic focus of recasts (the most common CF type) and noticing. It further explored the possible relationship between learning styles and recast noticing. The learning styles of 25 intermediate Iranian EFL learners were determined through the VARK questionnaire. During the participants’ story retelling tasks, the researchers provided recasts in response to their grammatical, lexical, and phonological errors. The class presentations were audiotaped, and recasts were highlighted. Online and retrospective methods of measuring noticing were used. Chi-Square tests indicated that there were significant differences among the participants’ noticing in general and in noticing of grammatical, lexical, and phonological recasts in particular. The results of post hoc analysis revealed that the auditory-style participants received the highest noticing rate and the kinesthetic style the least. The study further indicated that learners whose learning style was auditory better noticed grammatical recasts, learners whose learning style was mixed better noticed lexical recasts, and visual learners better noticed phonological recasts.