Protocol
Reperform after feedback instead of collecting corrections
A correction becomes learning only when it changes the next performance.
When it fits
- Feedback produces a list of errors but those corrections rarely appear in later spontaneous language.
When to avoid it
- Immediate re-performance can show understanding and short-term control; durable transfer requires a delayed check.
Why it matters
After focused feedback, make the learner perform again while the intended change is still clear. Keep the feedback narrow enough to use: one or two high-value targets, not every possible defect. The re-performance can be a revised paragraph, a second spoken attempt or a parallel task. Later, test the same target again without showing the correction.
Steps
- Select one or two consequential feedback targets.
- Explain or confirm the needed change.
- Reperform or revise immediately.
- Remove the correction from view.
- Retest the target in a later parallel task.
An example
After feedback on hedging in a recommendation, the learner records the answer again, then handles a different recommendation two days later.
Check your result
The corrected behavior appears in a later task without copying the teacher's wording.
Keep this limit in mind
- Immediate re-performance can show understanding and short-term control; durable transfer requires a delayed check.
Connected ideas
Useful withDefine the B2-to-C1 gap from a real sample
Evidence and sources
Task-repetition research finds that repeating a communicative task can improve dimensions of L2 performance, while the size and pattern of effects depend on the task and repetition design.
Immediate improvement on a repeated task can include task familiarity and does not by itself prove transfer to new topics.
Meta-analysis of task repetition effects on second-language oral performance · Meta-analysis results
Second-language writing feedback is more useful when the feedback level matches the intended outcome: surface feedback mainly targets form, while deeper feedback targets organization and meaning.
This evidence concerns writing and should be adapted cautiously when designing oral feedback.
Effects of feedback on second language writing: A meta-analysis · Meta-analytic comparison of surface, deep and combined feedback