The Effect of Explicit Corrective Feedback on Improving the English Pronunciation of Iraqi Intermediate Graders

This quasi-experimental study aims at investigating the effect of feedback on developing the pronunciation skills of intermediate EFL learners in Iraq and how such feedback can help them improve their pronunciation and speaking skills. The sample of the study included 40 female first-year intermediate graders at Al-Remah intermediate school during the second semester of the academic year (2021-2022). The sample was then subdivided into two groups: an experimental group (n=20), set to receive explicit corrective feedback, and a control group (n=20), set to receive no feedback. The two groups were exposed to a 3-month pronunciation tests in the early experiment. After that, both groups passed a post-test. Results revealed that explicit corrective feedback in the experimental group was more effective than in the control group. theory that places students in the role of stimulus respondent. Behaviorism emphasizes the external behaviors of students, which can be changed by applying rewards and punishments. Teachers take their students step-by-step through the curriculum. It is expected of the students that they repeat what their teachers have said . When the students perform well and without making a mistake, the teacher will encourage them and give them rewards to complete what they started, but when the learners make an error , the teacher will provide a suitable feedback to correct their errors Skinner, B. F. (1938). The educational role of feedback stems from the principles of behavioral theory, which confirms that the individual changes his subsequent behavior if he knows the results of his previous behavior, and also confirms the role of feedback reinforcement, and its role in stimulating motivation, guiding learning, and establishing correct information; Thus, raising the level of achievement (Nabhan 2008) the one who believes that behavior is formed as a result of an association between stimuli and response, and that the response represents the means to achieve the aim, and that the practice of the results leads to students feeling comfortable . students' awareness of the error. The influence of each individual factor on CF effectiveness, as well as the influence of their interplay, was examined. This study suggests that in the context of mainland China, teachers' perceptions of effective CF were based on raising students' awareness on the error; factors affecting CF effectiveness were largely the same as those in previous studies. What is new to the current study is that it highlights the influence of indirect factors from cultural and affective dimensions on teachers CF perceptions and the dynamic nature of CF effectiveness. 3) Hossein Nassaji & Qian Liu (2016) examined the effectiveness of written corrective feedback (WCF) for improving L2 learners’ grammatical accuracy, fewer studies have investigated the extent to which different educational settings would influence learners’ perceptions and preferences of WCF. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 64 intermediate, advanced-intermediate, and advanced English learners across three proficiency levels (intermediate, advanced-intermediate, and advanced) in a major provincial university of Mainland China. Through extensive written questionnaires, the study explored these learners’ perceptions and preferences of the various dimensions of WCF. The results showed that although the participants tended to have a neutral opinion on the role of explicit grammar instruction, overall they expressed a favourable attitude towards error correction. The qualitative data further indicated that the participants wanted to take more initiatives in the revision process of their writing with less interference from teachers. Overall, the findings confirm the value of WCF for EFL learners outside English-speaking countries. The findings also highlight the significance of individual and contextual factors in the ongoing debate over the effectiveness of WCF.