The Differential Effects of Recast and Prompt in Two Writing Instruction Models (Face-to-Face versus Blog-integrated) on EFL Learners’ Essay Writing

This study investigated the differential effects of recast and prompt as corrective feedback and the effectiveness of face-to-face versus blog-integrated writing teaching. The study participants were ۸۰ Iranian junior EFL learners selected out of ۹۶ students. They were assigned to two instructional groups (face-to-face / blog-integrated writing instruction), each main group was divided into two subgroups, one group receiving a prompt, and the other group receiving a recast. First, all of the ۸۰ students were given an essay writing test in order to check whether any possible effects revealed in their posttest writing scores were due to the treatment or their prior knowledge. In the treatment phase, the learners were instructed on how to write a standard essay. Subsequently, the students wrote some drafts on which they received the instructor’s feedback (recast or prompt). Finally, the students did another writing task as a posttest. The results of the Two-way ANOVA indicated that the learners in the blog-integrated writing instruction achieved better than those in the face-to-face writing class. Also, the results indicated that the writing performance of students in the prompt group outperformed the learners in the recast group. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the learners’ writing performances varied according to the kind of feedback they received about the type of instructional models they were exposed to. The study’s implication is that EFL teachers can take advantage of blogs to improve students’ writing performance and increase their self-regulated learning and automaticity.

Keywords:

Blog-Integrated , Prompt , recast , Writing instruction