Development of English question formation in the EFL context of China: Recasts or prompts?

This experimental classroom study investigates the effects of two feedback types on English question formation. Ninety Chinese learners were randomly assigned to either one of two experimental groups (recasts or prompts) or the control group. Between the pre- and posttests, the learners in the experimental groups received the assigned type of feedback that addressed their production of questions during task-based interaction. The effects of the feedback were measured by calculating whether there was an increase in production frequency of targeted question types. The results showed that (1) neither feedback type was effective in increasing the learners' production of Stage-5 questions, and (2) both feedback types were valuable in improving the learners' production of accurate questions, but recasts yielded a larger effect than prompts. These findings provide further evidence of feedback usefulness in L2 learning and shed light on English question formation via the pedagogical tool of corrective feedback.