Recasts, Language Anxiety, Modified Output, and L2 Learning

The study reported in this article investigated (a) whether classroom language anxiety affects learners’ ability to improve accuracy in their use of English articles when provided with corrective feedback in the form of recasts and (b) whether language anxiety influences the extent to which learners modify output following recasts. Four groups were formed based on their responses to a questionnaire measuring language anxiety: high-anxiety learners who received recasts (N = 13), low-anxiety learners who received recasts (N = 11), high-anxiety learners who received no recasts (N = 11), and low-anxiety learners who received no recasts (N = 10). For the two recast groups, two treatment sessions directed at article errors took place, which were audio-taped. Transcriptions were then coded for the frequency of recasts and modified output. All groups completed a pretest, and immediate and delayed posttests. Results show that in the speeded dictation and writing immediate posttests, the low-anxiety recast group outperformed the high-anxiety recast group and the low-anxiety control group, but there was no significant difference in the performance of both high-anxiety recast and control groups. Moreover, the less anxious learners who benefited from recasts were found to produce higher levels of modified output. In other words, recasts were most effective for low-anxiety learners who produced high levels of modified output. These findings suggest that language anxiety is a factor influencing not only whether recasts lead to modified output but also whether they promote learning.