The Effect of Pending Feedback on the IELTS Speaking Test Result: Grammatical Range and Accuracy in Focus

Abstract

Providing feedback on EFL Learners' speaking errors has been extensively researched, with numerous studies highlighting its benefits (Van Ha, et al., 2021; Hartono, 2022). This study investigates the impact of "pending feedback", a type of feedback where students must independently discover the correct answer. This research emphasizes the need for feedback in solidifying knowledge during targeted practice based on Skill Acquisition Theory (Dekeyser, 2020), which holds that language acquisition moves through declarative knowledge, proceduralization, and automatization phases; Furthermore, the sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978) guides this study and emphasizes the need for learner autonomy and interaction in supporting language development. Moreover, the study uses Schmidt's (1990) Noticing Hypothesis, which holds that cognitive awareness or "noticing" of language structures is necessary for language acquisition. Sixty IELTS learners, 30 in the experimental group and 30 in the control group, were recruited. Both groups displayed similar pre-test results. The experimental group received pending feedback, while the control group received teacher-selected feedback methods, excluding pending feedback. To find any possible significant difference in the group's performance and to detect the relation between pending feedback frequency of occurrence and the increased speaking scores in the experimental group, an Independent Sample t-test and Pearson correlation were conducted on two groups of participants. The experimental group improved IELTS speaking scores, indicating a strong correlation between pending feedback and better speaking performance. Additionally, the frequency of pending feedback was examined within the experimental group, further confirming that students who received more frequent pending feedback opportunities indicated enhanced performance.