Invented Spellings and Vocabulary: The Effects of Direct, In-direct, and Supplementary Corrective Feedback on Elementary EFL Learners

Abstract

Children are able to apply their phonological awareness skills to multiple lan guages, even if the reading and writing systems of their native and foreign lan guages are different. When learning English as a foreign language, students may use invented spelling to attempt to spell a word they do not know how to spell. This involves using what they have heard to guess the correct spelling rather than following specific spelling rules. This research has utilized the findings on in-direct corrective feedback (ICF), direct corrective feedback (DCF), and supplementary corrective feedback (SCF) to improve outcomes in English vocabulary for the in vented spellings of elementary EFL learners, whose native (L1) and foreign (L2) languages are both alphabetic in nature. The results of the controlled experiment showed a significant improvement in the learning outcomes of the participants who received direct corrective feedback. Additionally, it was observed that stu dents with highly educated parents and increased exposure to English away from school utilized conventional spellings to a bare minimum.