Claire Kramsch grew up between four different languages, French, English, German, and Yiddish. She tells how beyond the differences in languages, it is the misunderstandings between the speakers of these languages that have always fascinated her and that have guided her research. Literature and discourse analysis led her to develop the concept of symbolic competence.

This chapter outlines the rationale for the volume as well as its scope and structure. The theoretical and empirical bases for the study of corrective feedback as well as ways to employ corrective feedback in second language instruction are presented first followed by the aims of the book, its target audience, and a description of the book’s structure and content.

This chapter introduces the methodological tools of research synthesis in the context of corrective feedback (CF) research and highlights findings in this area generated by synthetic approaches. Meta-analysis, the most common approach to research synthesis in applied linguistics, has quickly gained much popularity in CF research, with at least twenty meta-analyses conducted on CF by the time of this publication (more than in any other area of applied linguistics research). The chapter describes the value of research synthesis to CF research and how meta-analyses have helped consolidate findings in this domain and provided insight into the range of moderating variables that may influence the effectiveness of CF. Methodological synthesis, a type of research synthesis used for taking inventory of methodological approaches, has also provided guidance for future advancements in designing research methodology in this domain, which are explored. The chapter concludes by summarizing the contributions of research synthesis within CF research and provides cautious guidance in the interpretation of findings in synthetic research.

A question that received considerable interest from language teachers and researchers alike is what corrective feedback (CF) should look like to be maximally beneficial to learners’ second language development. This chapter zooms in on two feedback types that have been distinguished in the CF literature: focused and unfocused CF. After a careful characterization of these two feedback options, theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical arguments are discussed for both of them. The chapter furthermore provides a synthesis of oral and written feedback studies into the (relative) value of focused and unfocused CF. It concludes with suggestions for further research and implications for L2 classrooms.

Classroom-based research concerned with corrective feedback plays a critical role in our understanding of how contextual factors shape teaching and learning, as well as our understanding of research. This chapter draws on descriptive and experimental studies investigating corrective feedback in the classroom to examine the role of context and the ways in which contextual factors have been considered, and at times neglected, in research. It highlights how both macro and micro dimensions of classroom contexts have had an impact on the ways in which researchers design, carry out, and interpret their work and teachers might draw on findings for classroom practice. Discussion explores how classrooms have and will continue to change, making a consideration of context imperative beyond a variable to be accounted for in research. The chapter suggests that the diversity of classroom contexts be leveraged to enrich the research

This chapter examines the role of nonverbal feedback, particularly gestures. It reviews and evaluates the findings of current research in this area and offers suggestions for future research. The chapter begins by discussing how gestures are used in a language classroom followed by an examination of their effectiveness in the development of different language skills including vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and comprehension. The relationship between learners’ individual differences, gestures, and corrective feedback is also addressed.