The Effectiveness of Two Feedback Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary Among EFL Students

The current research aims to assess the effectiveness of two feedback strategies, (positive and corrective feedback), in enhancing the acquisition of English language vocabulary among first year students who studied English as foreign language in the English Language Department at the College of Education for women, Tikrit University, Iraq , The study is quantitative study utilizes an experimental approach, with a quasi-experimental design involving pre-test and post-test assessments, The study sample included 120 first-year students and they were divided into two experimental groups (the first included 40 students studying with corrective feedback), the second (included 40 students studying with positive feedback), and the third (control group included 40 students who did not receive any feedback). To achieve the aim of the study, a vocabulary acquisition test consisting of 60 multiple-choice items is designed, after ensuring the validity and reliability of the test by using suitable statistics methods. The test is applied pre and post to the three groups The answers are collected, and the arithmetic averages and statistical significance were calculated by using ( spss software program ) the results shows that : Both ,the corrective and positive feedback strategies have a significant impact on students' vocabulary acquisition. There were statistically significant differences at the 0.05 significance level between the students in the first experimental group, who were taught using corrective feedback, and those in the control group, who were taught using traditional methods, in favor of the experimental group. There are statistically significant differences at the 0.05 significance level between the students in the second experimental group, who were taught using positive feedback, and those in the control group, who were taught using traditional methods, in favor of the experimental group. There are also statistically significant differences at the 0.05 significance level between the students in the first experimental group, who were taught using corrective feedback, and those in the second experimental group, who were taught using the positive feedback strategy, in favor of the corrective feedback.