Students’ engagement with teacher oral corrective feedback: insights from an Ethiopian EFL classroom

This instrumental case study explored students’ engagement with teacher oral corrective feedback in an EFL classroom at Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. The study aimed to shed light on the complex nature of oral corrective practices and students’ reactions to the feedback. For this qualitative case study, the data were collected through audio-recorded classroom observation and student interview questions. After these data were transcribed, they were thematically analyzed. The results of the study unveiled the teacher’s application of recast as a major feedback strategy in the EFL classroom, and the teacher predominantly deployed immediate feedback. Students’ engagement with the feedback was more positive in all dimensions (cognitive, behavioral, and affective), with some negative emotions emerging, and preventing students from engaging with the given feedback. The findings of this study contribute to the existing body of literature in the field of student engagement with oral corrective feedback. Again, the findings can inform English language teachers to fit their oral correction strategies to students’ needs and emotional well-being in EFL classrooms.