675

Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching
Department of English Studies, Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts, Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz

SSLLT 12 (4). 2022. 675-696
https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2022.12.4.7
http://pressto.amu.edu.pl/index.php/ssllt

Heritage, second and third language learner
processing of written corrective feedback:

Evidence from think-alouds

Melissa A. Bowles
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA

 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1896-8813
bowlesm@illinois.edu

Kacie Gastañaga
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8756-2687
kacielg2@illinois.edu

Abstract
This study compares the processing of three different types of written correc-
tive feedback (WCF) by heritage language (HL), second language (L2), and
third language (L3) learners who wrote and revised three short essays and
received a different type of WCF for each essay (i.e., direct, coding, or under-
lining). Comparison of pre- and post-feedback texts and analysis of think-
alouds served as the basis for determining whether one type of feedback pro-
moted higher depth of processing (DoP) and whether this processing was me-
diated by error type and language background. The findings indicate that
feedback type did interact with DoP, and that this interaction was in some
ways mediated by learner background and error type. This research serves as
a first step toward understanding how these three learner groups are im-
pacted by these commonly used feedback types and is therefore important
to drive evidence-based pedagogical decisions.

Keywords: written corrective feedback; depth of processing; think-alouds;
heritage language learners; third language learners



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1. Introduction

Written corrective feedback (WCF) is “any explicit attempt to draw a learner’s
attention to a morphosyntactic or lexical error” (Polio, 2012, p. 375) in writing.
The focus of WCF research has traditionally been on the accuracy of the final
written product, but in recent years the processes learners engage in when they
receive feedback have begun to receive empirical attention based on the recog-
nition that without information about how WCF was processed, it is difficult to
ascertain anything more than whether a revision was made (see Roca de Larios
& Coyle, 2022, for a recent review).

Leow’s (2020) feedback processing framework is the most recent account
of how engaging with WCF may (or may not) lead to changes in learners’ linguis-
tic systems. Specifically, the framework explains that once learners have re-
ceived feedback, they must minimally pay attention to it for it to potentially be
converted into intake. Feedback processing pertains to how the learner cogni-
tively processes the feedback in relation to current linguistic knowledge. If the
feedback is further processed, whether with a low or high DoP, there is potential
for previously learned knowledge to be restructured. The new restructured in-
formation (which might or might not be fully accurate at this point) can then
replace or combine with the original knowledge in the learner’s internal system.
Leow notes that it is possible for the learner to retain both accurate and inaccu-
rate items in the system, and only measures of delayed performance can indi-
cate whether a complete, accurate restructuring has taken place (resulting in
system learning), or whether such restructuring was fleeting, as evidenced by
accuracy immediately after feedback provision but regression to previous inac-
curate knowledge at a later time.

Our  research  is  couched  in  Leow’s  (2020)  framework  and  investigates  the
processing and impact of WCF on three different learner populations – second lan-
guage (L2) learners, third language (L3) learners, and heritage language (HL) learn-
ers of Spanish in a university-level Spanish course in which composition is one com-
ponent of the four-skills curriculum. These three populations are theoretically inter-
esting, with heritage language learners understudied in WCF and L3 learners never
having been the focus of prior WCF processing studies. Furthermore, examining the
three populations is an ecologically valid choice since all of them are enrolled in the
same classes. In what follows we first review different types of WCF and then move
on to describing previous research findings on feedback processing and learner pro-
files as the necessary background to situate our study.



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2. Literature review

2.1. Types of WCF

WCF differs along several dimensions, including its focus (i.e., limited to a re-
stricted set of linguistic elements or comprehensive), its timing (i.e., synchro-
nous or asynchronous with writing), and its explicitness (i.e., direct or indirect).
For our study we chose asynchronous, comprehensive feedback because of eco-
logical validity considerations in our context and because the potential effective-
ness of comprehensive WCF has attracted less empirical attention than focused
WCF (Cerezo et al., 2019, p. 174). To benefit from implicit (indirect) feedback,
learners need to have enough proficiency in the language to be able to under-
stand the nature of their errors, whereas explicit (direct) correction can be suit-
able for beginners as the feedback provides correction (Kang & Han, 2022). We
chose to include both direct WCF and two types of indirect WCF – underlining
and metalinguistic coding – as they are commonly used in language classrooms
(Zhang et al., 2021) and for their theoretical suitability for learners of interme-
diate proficiency. In terms of processing, as Kang and Han (2022) explain, “ex-
plicit WCF places the processing responsibility in the hands of the feedback giver
(i.e., the teacher), while implicit WCF shifts the responsibility to the feedback
receiver (i.e., the learner)” (p. 221). We therefore anticipated that direct feed-
back might be processed less deeply than indirect feedback.

2.2. Findings of previous studies on the processing of WCF

Previous research has used two main introspective methods to examine how
learners process feedback – written languaging (Cerezo et al., 2019; Manchón
et al., 2020; Manchón & Roca de Larios, 2011; Suzuki, 2012, 2017) and think-
alouds (Caras, 2019; DeRobles, 2019; Kim & Bowles, 2019; Park & Kim, 2019; Qi
& Lapkin, 2001; Sachs & Polio, 2007; Suh, 2010). Leow and Manchón (2022) have
convincingly argued for the affordances of think-alouds, stating that “think-
aloud protocols, although a time-consuming undertaking mostly due to tran-
scription, segmentation, and coding, arguably elicit the richest data on cognitive
processes employed during task performance” (p. 306). Our study therefore
adopted think-alouds for this purpose and we turn now to reviewing existing
process research that has used this data collection procedure.

The earliest studies to examine WCF processing using think-alouds are Qi
and Lapkin (2001) and Sachs and Polio (2007), both of which involved ESL learn-
ers who received reformulations. Although neither used the metric of DoP per
se, in Qi and Lapkin (2001) “substantive” rather than “perfunctory” comments



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were related to an improved written product and in Sachs and Polio (2007) errors
accompanied by metalanguage or a hypothesis were more likely to be corrected
in the revision. Park and Kim (2019), who examined processing of indirect feed-
back, similarly found that deeper processing resulted in better ability to self-cor-
rect marked errors. Where think-aloud studies comparing the processing of mul-
tiple types of WCF are concerned, direct feedback has been associated with lower
levels of processing than reformulations and indirect feedback (Caras, 2019; Kim
& Bowles, 2019). Suh (2010), however, found in her study that the intermediate-
level ESL learners who received direct feedback manifested higher levels of aware-
ness and showed significantly greater learning gains than those who received in-
direct feedback (metalinguistic coding) on the past counterfactual conditional.

It seems that the relationship between feedback and its processing may
depend on a number of factors, including the L2 writer’s proficiency level, the
nature of the errors, and the extent to which the indirect feedback provides
clues as to the nature of the error. For instance, Caras (2019) found that for pret-
erit/imperfect errors, but not for ser/estar errors, most L2 Spanish participants
who received metalinguistic feedback processed at a high level. Looking further
into the relationship between error types and DoP, Kim and Bowles (2019) found
that errors related to sentence structure and organization were associated with
high DoP, whereas punctuation, word choice, and tense (surface level errors)
were associated more often with low DoP. For Caras’ beginning-level learners,
the indirect feedback type that provided the fewest clues as to the nature of the
error (crossing it out) generally led to low level processing, most likely because
learners did not have enough target language knowledge to understand what
was incorrect about their writing. In contrast, the indirect, metalinguistic coding
feedback generally led to high level processing, presumably because learners
relied on the code to identify the source of the error.

As this brief review shows, our understanding of the factors that impact
WCF processing for L2 learners is just beginning to emerge and further research
is needed to disentangle the roles learners play. All of the aforementioned stud-
ies examined how L2 learners of different languages, contexts, and proficiencies
processed WCF. Other populations have featured less prominently in research.
For instance, just one study (DeRobles, 2019) investigated how heritage learners
process WCF. This study compared how high and “very high” proficiency learn-
ers processed direct and indirect (metalinguistic coding) feedback. Deeper pro-
cessing was associated with greater accuracy between drafts, particularly for
the metalinguistic coding group. Again, relationships were not straightforward,
as direct feedback led to improved accuracy for some lower proficiency learners
on certain error types, and proficiency seemed to mediate the relationship be-
tween WCF and DoP.



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As studies of WCF processing are still scarce for HL learners and, to our
knowledge, nonexistent for L3 learners, it is important to compare the feedback
processing behavior of those learners who so often coexist in the foreign or sec-
ond language classroom yet have diverse abilities and needs due to their unique
linguistic backgrounds, which we discuss next. This expansion of the populations
under study will likely contribute not only to expanding the empirical basis, but
also to assessing whether available research findings can be generalized across
populations and contexts.

2.3. HL, L2, and L3 learners

US college and university language classrooms are more diverse than ever (As-
sociation of American Colleges and Universities, 2019), with Spanish classes par-
ticularly so because it is the most widely taught language other than English in
the country (Looney & Lusin, 2019). In many classrooms, L2 learners of Spanish
who were raised monolingually in English coexist with heritage learners of Span-
ish, defined by Valdés (2000) as learners that grew up hearing and using the
language at home. At the institution where this study was carried out, there is
also a growing number of L3 learners of Spanish, who were raised speaking a
heritage language such as Russian or Urdu at home, are dominant in English (the
majority language), and choose to learn Spanish in a classroom setting for pro-
fessional or personal reasons.

Previous research tells us that these learner types have different strengths
and needs when it comes to language learning (e.g., Bowles & Montrul, 2017;
Cenoz, 2013; Gatti & O’Neill, 2017; Gurzynski-Weiss, 2010). HL learners often
have limited knowledge of grammar rules and metalinguistic terminology since
they acquire the language naturalistically at home and rarely receive literacy in-
struction in Spanish at school in the U.S. However, they often have stronger pro-
nunciation skills, greater oral fluency, and higher oral comprehension skills than
L2 or L3 learners (Carreira & Kagan, 2011; Mrak, 2020). Past research has shown
that HL learners tend to rely on their “ear” even when completing written tasks,
often reading their writing and any feedback aloud to determine whether it
“sounds right” (Yanguas & Lado, 2012; Zamora, 2022). Furthermore, their rela-
tive lack of familiarity with metalinguistic labels suggests they might be less able
to benefit from indirect feedback (and especially coding feedback) than their
peers who learned Spanish primarily in a classroom setting. L2 learners are
mainly exposed to the target language in the classroom, and therefore usually
have stronger explicit knowledge of grammar rules than HL learners, but weaker
comprehension skills and oral fluency (Carreira & Kagan, 2011). They tend to be
quite used to metalinguistic terms and are often very accurate at using them to



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describe the Spanish language (Bowles, 2011). This tendency could make them
more adept at using indirect feedback (especially metalinguistic error coding feed-
back) than their HL peers. L3 learners have the advantage of coming to the Spanish
language classroom with two languages already under their belt, which, as past re-
search has shown, contributes to higher overall metalinguistic awareness (Bialystok,
2001). This tendency, combined with their classroom exposure to Spanish, may pre-
dispose them to benefit the most of the three groups from indirect feedback.

Given their profiles, HL, L2 and L3 learners might be expected to process
feedback differently and in empirically and pedagogically relevant ways. From
the latter perspective, empirical findings could usefully inform our decisions
about feedback provision, and in view of a limited number of studies with all
but L2 learners, research is essential to drive evidence-based pedagogy for the
three learner groups. In an attempt to add to previous research on feedback
processing and gain new pedagogically relevant knowledge, the following re-
search questions guided our study:

1. Is there a relationship between type of written corrective feedback (error
coding, underlining, or direct correction) and DoP for HL, L2, or L3 learners?

2. Is there a relationship between DoP and error type for HL, L2, or L3 learners?
3. Is there a relationship between DoP and accurate error revision for HL,

L2, or L3 learners?

3. Method

3.1. Participants

The participants in this study were 35 students of Spanish from a large public
university in the US Midwest. They ranged from low- to high-intermediate pro-
ficiency in Spanish as determined by an abridged version of the Diploma de Es-
pañol como Lengua Extranjera (DELE), a Spanish proficiency test frequently used
in linguistics research (e.g., Montrul 2004; Montrul & Slabakova 2003). The DELE
contains 30 multiple-choice vocabulary questions and a 20-question cloze test
of grammar and vocabulary. Test-takers can score 0-50 points, with scores from
0-29 regarded as low proficiency, 30-39 as intermediate and 40-50 as advanced.
The learners also completed the Bilingual Language Profile (BLP) (Birdsong et
al., 2012), which was used to gather information about their language back-
grounds and to identify them as HL, L2, or L3 learners. According to self-reports
from the BLP, on average participants in the HL group began learning Spanish at
birth and English at three years old and reported using Spanish with their fami-
lies 55% of the time, and with their friends 10% of the time. The L3 learners spoke



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a wide variety of home languages including Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Amharic,
Japanese, Polish, Punjabi, and Ukrainian. Like the HL group, they reported learn-
ing English at three years old on average and using their home languages with
family more than half of the time (68%) and with their friends about 30% of the
time. L2 learners reported having been exposed only to English until learning
Spanish in a classroom setting in adolescence, and they indicated they infre-
quently used Spanish outside of class.

The learners were drawn from a range of university Spanish courses, with
HL learners reporting having studied Spanish for an average of four years, L3
learners for 4.3 years, and L2 learners for an average of 5.5 years. In total, there
were 7 HL learners of Spanish, 9 L3 learners, and 19 L2 learners. Table 1 reports
average DELE scores for each group. There were no statistically significant dif-
ferences in proficiency between groups.

Table 1 DELE scores by group

Group N DELE Avg. (SD) Range
HL 7 26.86 (6.5) 16-33
L2 19 26 (7.4) 15-36
L3 9 28.67 (6.73) 19-37

3.2. Task

Each participant wrote and revised three 200-250-word essays in response to
prompts about Spanish in the US (see Appendix). These prompts were chosen
because they covered topics participants would have had personal experience
with, were accessible to learners at this proficiency level, and related to topics
covered in the curriculum.

Participants were given a week to write each essay in their own time.
While writing, they recorded their screens using Zoom to ensure they were only
using Microsoft Word spellcheck, linguee.com and wordreference.com. These
websites were allowed as resources because they provide translations of indi-
vidual words or phrases like “get ready” rather than full sentences with context
and examples. Participants submitted their screen recordings with each essay;
essays without screen recordings were not accepted.

After submitting every single essay, each participant met with the re-
searcher or a research assistant approximately one week later via Zoom to revise
their initial texts. During each session, the participant received their marked-up
essay with one of three WCF types (error coding, direct feedback, underlining)
and shared their screen while they edited and thought aloud. The next prompt
was sent 1-2 days after each revision session and the process was repeated a



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total  of  three  times  for  each  participant,  with  the  order  of  prompts  and  WCF
counterbalanced to ensure that any differences were not due to order effects or
prompt attributes. For each revision session, one-third of the participants re-
ceived each prompt and feedback type. Due to attrition, the final counts are not
perfectly balanced. Table 2 below illustrates the number of participants for each
prompt and feedback condition during each writing session.

Table 2 Counterbalancing of participants for each writing session
Prompt Number of participants Error coding Direct feedback Underlining

Writing Session 1
Teaching of Spanish 10 4 3 3
Resources 17 7 5 5
Signage 8 3 1 4

Writing Session 2
Teaching of Spanish 15 3 5 7
Resources 8 3 4 1
Signage 12 4 4 4

Writing Session 3
Teaching of Spanish 10 1 4 5
Resources 10 4 4 2
Signage 15 6 5 4

3.3. Feedback types

The three feedback types that were chosen – direct corrective feedback, met-
alinguistic error coding, and underlining – were used because they are the main
types of feedback that are given in the classroom and because they have been
the focus of many previous studies (Zhang et al., 2021). Table 3 shows the same
sentence marked with each feedback type.

Table 3 Feedback types
 Direct Muchas personas saben que aprendiendoaprender un lenguaje cuándocuando ellos son jóvenes es más

fácil que aprendiendoaprender una lengua en la escuela secundariosecundaria. (Many people know that
learning a language when they are young is easier than learning a language in high school.)

Coding Muchas personas saben que aprendiendo(VT) un lenguaje(WC) cuándo(SP) ellos son jóvenes es más
fácil que aprendiendo(=) una lengua en la escuela secundario(AGR).
(VT) Verb Tense, (WC)= Word Choice, (SP)= Spelling, (=) = Same as previous error, (AGR)= Agreement

Underlining Muchas personas saben que aprendiendo un lenguaje cuándo ellos son jóvenes es más fácil que
aprendiendo una lengua en la escuela secundario.

Following Caras’ (2019) claim that comprehensive WCF is ecologically valid since
it reflects the way instructors tend to revise compositions in the classroom (p. 186), we
elected to provide this type of feedback. The errors that were marked were article er-
rors (including missing articles and issues with definite/indefinite articles), inflectional
morphology, such as gender and subject verb agreement, mood, punctuation, prepo-
sitions, spelling errors, and sentence structure errors such as incomplete sentences,
verb tense, and word choice. These error types were chosen because they encompass
the majority of errors that language learners at this level make when writing.



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To ensure the essays were being coded reliably, both authors provided
feedback on 10% of the essays, divided equally among the three types of WCF.
Interrater agreement on these essays was 94%, which was considered high
enough that one author then coded the remaining essays.

3.4. Think-aloud protocols

The think-aloud protocol was designed following Bowles (2010), beginning with
instructions and think-aloud practice for participants before they moved on to the
revision task. The instructions asked learners to think aloud in English, Spanish, or
a combination of the two as was most natural while they revised, saying what
went through their mind as they reviewed their feedback. Next, the participants
completed a brief think-aloud practice activity made up of three sentences with
grammatical  errors  in  English  that  had  been  marked  with  the  type  of  feedback
that corresponded to that day’s session. Examples of each are included in Table 4.

Table 4 Think-aloud practice
Example sentence
(Underlining feedback)

They’re wasn’t any students I knew at the school event.

Example think-aloud
comments

Ok,  so  I  have  an  issue  with  “they’re.” Maybe  I  spelled  it  wrong  since  there  are  many
ways to spell it. And a problem with wasn’t, too. Maybe it is supposed to be “weren’t”
since there is more than one student?

Practice sentence He didn’t went to the game yesterday.

After the think-aloud practice session, participants received their marked-
up  essay,  shared  their  screen,  and  began  to  revise.  The  researcher  started  re-
cording the Zoom session, turned off her video and muted her microphone, only
speaking to remind the participants to continue to think aloud if they fell silent
for more than a few seconds. This prompting was rarely necessary. Participants
spent on average 15-20 minutes revising each essay.

3.5. Coding for DoP

The think-aloud recordings were transcribed verbatim. Participants’ comments
for each error were classified as high, medium, or low DoP, adopting the coding
scheme  used  by  Caras  (2019),  an  adaptation  of  Leow’s  (2015)  coding  system.
Table 5 provides descriptors for each category in the coding system and Table 6
contains examples of each type of DoP in each feedback condition.



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Table 5 DoP coding system
Description Low DoP Medium DoP High DoP

Descriptors
Shows no potential for processing
target

Comments on target in relation to
meaning

Arrives at an inaccurate, partially, or
fully accurate underlying rule

Repeats target or their production in
the composition

Spends a bit more time processing
target

Makes hypotheses regarding target

Translates the phrase into English
Makes comments that indicate
some processing of target

Provides an inaccurate, accurate
and/or partially accurate rule

Says what they mean in English
Refers to a previous instance with
the same target

Corrects previous translation

Repeats target or their production in
the composition

Some  level  of  cognitive  effort  to
process target

Spends much time processing tar-
get

Says they aren’t sure what is wrong
High level of cognitive effort to pro-
cess target

Comments on the target but does
not indicate any further processing
Avoids the correction
Does not spend much time pro-
cessing target
Low level of cognitive effort to pro-
cess target

Table 6 DoP coding examples

High
DoP

Umm . . . pero . . . “VT” . . ., verb tense. Okay . . . oh, that’s because . . . I believe it’s . . . paré? Conjugations (Looks
up on Wordreference.com) . . . umm paré, sí (Coding).
And then. Americana. Yeah, porque I was talking in the the feminine primera generación cause generación is
feminine, so I have to change this to an “a.” Ooh (Direct).
Aquellos que son bilingües están mejor enfocan. (Pause). Están . . . Then this one probably too. Okay, they practice.
Wait and so, those who are bilingual are better at concentrating because they practice. That should be practican.
Pra-ti-can. Conjugate that. Because they practice. I think that’s right, okay. Mejor . . . están . . . aquellos que son
bilingües están mejor enfocan (Underlining).

Medium
DoP

No es tan bueno, “AGR,” agreement. Buena. (“It’s not as good (feminine). AGR. Agreement. Good (masculine)”)
(Coding).
Lenguaje again . . . guess you can’t use that word (Direct).
Muchas investigaciones creen que los hispanos . . . sería. Oh. Serían. (“Many studies believe that Hispanics . . .
would be (singular). Oh. Would be (plural)”) (Underlining).

Low
DoP

Tenido más práctica hablando (“Had more practice speaking”) (Coding).
A los . . . ugh ohh (“To the . . . Ugh ohh”) (Direct).
Encan- encantar (“Lo- love”) (Underlining).

Each researcher coded 10% of the transcripts separately and interrater
agreement for DoP was 94%. The two authors discussed the disagreements and
further elaborated the coding scheme accordingly, then one author coded the
rest of the data. Each think-aloud comment was coded for high, medium, or low
DoP, error type, and whether the revision was correct, incorrect (but changed
from the original), or unchanged. In total, there were 1,910 comments across all
three feedback conditions. Each participant provided an average of 54 think-
aloud comments (SD  = 27).  Descriptive  statistics  were  used  to  answer  the  re-
search questions in the following section.



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4. Results

The first research question asked about the relationship between the type of writ-
ten corrective feedback and DoP for HL, L2, and L3 learners. Tables 7-9 illustrate
each group’s percentage of high, medium, and low DoP in each feedback condition.
For all three learner groups, direct feedback was most often processed with low
DoP (in 60% of cases). Error coding and underlining feedback, on the other hand,
were processed with medium or high DoP approximately 60% of the time by HL and
L2 learners. L3 learners also processed underlining feedback with medium or high
DoP at this rate, but not error coding. These findings echo previous work which has
found that indirect feedback leads L2 and HL learners to process more deeply than
its direct counterpart (Caras, 2019; DeRobles, 2019; Kim & Bowles, 2019) and pro-
vide the first measures of L3 feedback processing. The two indirect feedback types
were processed with similar rates of low (over 40%), medium (around 30%), and
high DoP (around 30%) by HL and L2 learners. The L3 learners differed from the
other groups in their processing of coding feedback. They had the lowest rates of
high DoP for coding (17%) of the three groups, as compared to HL learners (26%)
and L2 learners (32%). In addition, the L3 learners processed the most implicit type
of feedback, underlining, with medium or high DoP 63% of the time, 7% more often
than the L2 group and 15% more often than HL learners.

Table 7 HL DoP by feedback type
DoP Code Direct Underline Totals
Low 53 (45%) 92 (66%) 45 (42%) 190 (52%)
Med 35 (29%) 13 (9%) 32 (30%) 80 (22%)
High 31 (26%) 35 (25%) 30 (28%) 96 (26%)
Totals 119 140 107 366

Table 8 L2 DoP by feedback type

DoP Code Direct Underline Totals
Low 146 (42%) 203 (62%) 13 (44%) 480 (49%)
Med 89 (26%) 53 (16%) 85 (29%) 227 (23%)
High 112 (32%) 74 (22%) 80 (27%) 266 (27%)
Totals 347 330 296 973

Table 9 L3 DoP by feedback type
DoP Code Direct Underline Totals
Low 92 (48%) 108 (57%) 69 (37%) 269 (47%)
Med 66 (35%) 32 (17%) 53 (28%) 151 (27%)
High 32 (17%) 49 (26%) 67 (35%) 148 (26%)
Totals 190 189 189 568



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Table 10 HL DoP by error type
Feedback type DoP ART IM M P PR S SS T WC

Code
Low 6 (46%) 9 (45%) 1 (33%) 4 (50%) 5 (56%) 15 (38%) 1 (50%) 4 (80%) 8 (42%)
Med 4 (31%) 7 (35%) 1 (33%) 3 (37%) 2 (22%) 13 (33%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 5 (26%)
High 3 (23%) 4 (20%) 1 (33%) 1 (12%) 2 (22%) 11 (28%) 1 (50%) 1 (20%) 6 (32%)

Direct
Low 9 (69%) 5 (63%) 2 (50%) 1 (20%) 13 (93%) 35 (70%) 4 (80%) 6 (60%) 17 (55%)
Med 2 (15%) 0 (0%) 2 (50%) 2 (40%) 1 (7%) 2 (4%) 0 (0%) 1 (10%) 3 (10%)
High 2 (15%) 3 (37%) 0 (0%) 2 (40%) 0 (0%) 13 (26%) 1 (20%) 3 (30%) 11 (35%)

Underline
Low 2 (22%) 5 (38%) 2 (33%) 4 (57%) 5 (42%) 12 (37%) 1 (50%) 5 (71%) 9 (47%)
Med 4 (44%) 3 (23%) 4 (66%) 2 (29%) 4 (33%) 8 (25%) 0 (0%) 1 (14%) 6 (32%)
High 3 (33%) 5 (38%) 0 (0%) 1 (14%) 3 (25%) 12 (37%) 1 (50%) 1 (14%) 4 (21%)

Note. ART = article, IM = inflectional morphology, M = mood, P = punctuation, PR = preposition, S = spelling, SS =
sentence structure, T = tense, WC = word choice

Table 11 L2 DoP by error type
Feedback type DoP ART IM M P PR S SS T WC

Code
Low 17 (50%) 17 (32%) 5 (38%) 6 (60%) 19 (59%) 21 (51%) 9 (53%) 13 (46%) 39 (33%)
Med 8 (24%) 19 (36%) 3 (23%) 2 (20%) 7 (22%) 8 (20%) 4 (23%) 4 (14%) 34 (28%)
High 9 (26%) 17 (32%) 5 (38%) 2 (20%) 6 (19%) 12 (29%) 4 (23%) 11 (39%) 46 (39%)

Direct
Low 22 (50%) 35 (59%) 8 (57%) 7 (87%) 21 (55%) 28 (76%) 13 (68%) 14 (54%) 55 (65%)
Med 7 (16%) 6 (10%) 5 (38%) 0 (0%) 10 (26%) 5 (13%) 3 (16%) 3 (11%) 14 (16%)
High 15 (34%) 18 (31%) 1 (7%) 1 (12%) 7 (18%) 4 (11%) 3 (16%) 9 (35%) 16 (19%)

Underline
Low 16 (50%) 13 (32%) 2 (25%) 8 (73%) 11 (52%) 23 (38%) 13 (54%) 10 (38%) 35 (47%)
Med 13 (41%) 12 (30%) 2 (25%) 2 (18%) 5 (24%) 19 (32%) 6 (25%) 9 (35%) 17 (23%)
High 3 (9%) 15 (37%) 4 (50%) 1 (9%) 5 (24%) 18 (30%) 5 (21%) 7 (27%) 22 (30%)

Note. ART = article, IM = inflectional morphology, M = mood, P = punctuation, PR = preposition, S = spelling, SS =
sentence structure, T = tense, WC = word choice

Table 12 L3 DoP by error type
Feedback type DoP ART IM M P PR S SS T WC

Code
Low 13 (59%) 19 (50%) 2 (25%) 1 (100%) 5 (38%) 20 (55%) 2 (100%) 2 (13%) 28 (52%)
Med 3 (14%) 18 (47%) 5 (62%) 0 (0%) 8 (61%) 8 (22%) 0 (0%) 8 (53%) 16 (30%)
High 6 (27%) 1 (3%) 1 (12%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 8 (22%) 0 (0%) 5 (33%) 10 (18%)

Direct
Low 22 (76%) 13 (42%) 3 (43%) 3 (100%) 14 (82%) 19 (63%) 4 (50%) 4 (33%) 26 (50%)
Med 2 (7%) 6 (19%) 4 (57%) 0 (0%) 2 (12%) 4 (13%) 1 (12%) 4 (33%) 9 (17%)
High 5 (17%) 12 (39%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (6%) 7 (23%) 3 (38%) 4 (33%) 17 (33%)

Underline
Low 14 (67%) 12 (36%) 3 (25%) 0 (0%) 8 (40%) 20 (45%) 1 (14%) 3 (19%) 8 (22%)
Med 4 (19%) 7 (21%) 5 (42%) 0 (0%) 6 (30%) 13 (29%) 2 (29%) 4 (25%) 12 (33%)
High 3 (14%) 14 (42%) 4 (33%) 0 (0%) 6 (30%) 11 (25%) 4 (57%) 9 (56%) 16 (44%)

Note. ART = article, IM = inflectional morphology, M = mood, P= punctuation, PR = preposition, S = spelling, SS =
sentence structure, T = tense, WC = word choice

The second research question asked if there was a relationship between
DoP and error type for the three groups. Tables 10-12 include detailed data for
each learner group. Direct corrective feedback led to the lowest DoP for most
error types for all groups. That said, the HL group processed the few punctuation
errors they made most deeply in the direct feedback condition, often spending
considerable time reading and re-reading the sentence aloud to see if the corrected
punctuation sounded right. The L2 learners processed article and preposition



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errors with equally low DoP in every condition, most often editing them by simply
saying the correction aloud (e.g., “el país” instead of just “país,” or “por” instead of
“para”). Underlining feedback promoted the highest DoP for the majority of error
types for all groups, followed closely by coding feedback for L2 learners. Specifically,
L3 learners processed underlining feedback with the highest DoP for eight of the
nine error types, the only exception being article errors, which were processed most
deeply with coding feedback. L2 and HL learners demonstrated the most medium
and high DoP for inflectional morphology, mood, preposition, and spelling errors
when they received underlining feedback. The L2 learners seemed to benefit from
the error coding feedback more than the other groups for punctuation, sentence
structure, tense, and word choice errors as this feedback type promoted the highest
DoP for these error types, most likely because it indicates the source of the error,
something that might not be clear from underlining for these errors, especially to
L2 learners whose knowledge is more rule-based than intuitive and who do not
have heightened metalinguistic awareness like the L3 learners.

Table 13 HL DoP and error revision

 DoP
Accurately corrected Unchanged Not accurately corrected

Code Direct Under-line Code Direct Under-line Code Direct Under-line
Low 40 (42%) 82 (63%) 21 (33%) 4 (80%) 0 (0%) 6 (67%) 9 (50%) 10 (91%) 18 (53%)
Med 29 (30%) 13 (10%) 18 (28%) 1 (20%) 0 (0%) 2 (22%) 5 (28%) 0 (0%) 12 (35%)
High 26 (27%) 34 (26%) 25 (39%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (11%) 4 (22%) 1 (9%) 4 (12%)
Totals 95 129 64 5 0 9 18 11 34
Overall Totals 288/365 (79%) 14/365 (4%) 63/365 (17%)

Table 14 L2 DoP and error revision

 DoP
Accurately corrected Unchanged Not accurately corrected

Code Direct Under-line Code Direct Under-line Code Direct Under-line
Low 85 (35%) 198 (62%) 68 (38%) 20 (77%) 2 (67%) 21 (60%) 41 (52%) 4 (57%) 42 (50%)
Med 67 (27%) 50 (15%) 49 (27%) 2 (8%) 1 (33%) 11 (31%) 20 (26%) 2 (26%) 25 (30%)
High 91 (37%) 73 (23%) 61 (34%) 4 (15%) 0 (0%) 3 (8%) 17 (22%) 1 (22%) 16 (19%)
Totals 243 321 178 26 3 35 78 7 83
Overall Totals 742/974 (76%) 64/974 (7%) 168/974 (17%)

Table 15 L3 DoP and error revision

 DoP
Accurately corrected Unchanged Not accurately corrected

Code Direct Under-line Code Direct Under-line Code Direct Under-line
Low 67 (47%) 105 (62%) 46 (34%) 9 (75%) 3 (50%) 8 (73%) 16 (43%) 0 (0%) 15 (34%)
Med 46 (33%) 20 (12%) 37 (28%) 2 (17%) 2 (33%) 2 (18%) 18 (49%) 0 (0%) 14 (32%)
High 28 (20%) 45 (26%) 51 (38%) 1 (8%) 1 (17%) 1 (9%) 3 (8%) 3 (100%) 15 (34%)
Totals 141 170 134 12 6 11 37 3 44
Overall Totals 445/588 (80%) 29/558 (5%) 84/558 (15%)

The third research question concerned the relationship between DoP and
error revision for each group. Tables 13-15 include the percentages of accurately



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corrected, unchanged, and inaccurately revised errors in each group by feed-
back condition. Learners from all three groups were able to accurately revise
approximately 80% of their errors, regardless of DoP or feedback type and rarely
left errors unchanged. Unsurprisingly, the direct feedback condition allowed
learners in each group to revise many errors correctly with low DoP. When errors
were left unchanged, they were most often processed with low DoP, either be-
cause the learner simply skipped the error or took a quick look and decided they
did not know how to correct it. Few errors were left unchanged by any group in
the direct feedback condition since it provided learners with the correct revision.
In each group roughly 15% of errors were incorrectly revised. This mostly oc-
curred when the learners demonstrated low or medium DoP and happened
most often in the underlining and coding feedback conditions. Notably, there
were some instances in each group of high DoP leading to inaccurate revisions,
meaning that higher DoP did not always lead to accurate revision and conversely,
medium or high DoP was not always required for accurate revision. Correct re-
vision accompanied by high DoP occurred most often in the underlining feed-
back condition for HL and L3 learners and in the error coding condition for L2
learners. Based on Leow (2020) and past research on the relationship between
high DoP and subsequent learning outcomes (Leow, 2015), these are instances
that have the greatest potential for leading to learning gains.

While high DoP does not always lead to correct revision and correct revi-
sion does not necessarily require high DoP, in general deeper processing has
been  found  to  be  associated  with  more  correct  revision  (Park  &  Kim,  2019).
Since direct feedback provides learners with the correct answer, when we focus
only on the error coding and underlining conditions, we see that higher DoP
does appear to be linked more with accurate revisions and lower DoP is associ-
ated with unchanged or incorrectly revised errors. This pattern was clear for all
three groups, where between 57-67% of the correctly revised errors were pro-
cessed  with  medium  or  high  DoP,  60-80%  of  the  unchanged  errors  were  pro-
cessed with low DoP, and approximately 50% of the inaccurately revised errors
in each group were processed with low DoP. Only the L3 learners in the under-
lining feedback condition broke this pattern as they were equally likely to pro-
cess their incorrectly revised errors with low, medium, or high DoP.

5. Discussion

In this study we set out to explore the processing of three different types of writ-
ten corrective feedback by HL, L2, and L3 learners with the ultimate aim of con-
tributing new data on feedback processing from diverse learners of Spanish that
could be useful empirically (in terms of the generalizability of findings on feedback



Heritage, second and third language learner processing of written corrective feedback: Evidence . . .

689

processing across populations and contexts) and pedagogically (especially in
terms of pedagogical decision-making related to the provision of feedback).

Our first research question asked if there was a relationship between type
of WCF and DoP for learners. Our results confirm that feedback type and depth
of processing do interact. Across all groups, direct corrective feedback, the most
transparent feedback type, led to the lowest DoP. Error coding and underlining
feedback promoted medium or high DoP more than half the time for every
learner group. These findings echo previous research which has found that indi-
rect feedback tends to promote higher DoP so long as the learners have suffi-
cient proficiency to understand the feedback (Caras, 2019; Kim & Bowles, 2019).
The HL and L2 learners in this study had similar rates of high, medium, and low
DoP for each feedback type, while the L3 data present very distinct patterns.
That is, the L3 learners processed the error coding feedback much more shal-
lowly than the other groups, only ever processing it with high DoP 17% of the
time as opposed to 26% for HL learners and 32% for the L2 group. Conversely,
they processed the underlining feedback more deeply than any other group.
From our observations, the L3 learners were often able to resolve their errors
very quickly upon seeing the error code, often simply stating the correct answer.
Researchers have indicated that L3 learners have advanced metalinguistic skills
due to their exposure to multiple languages (Bialystok, 2001), and it seems that
the learners in this study may have been able to use such skills to their ad-
vantage with this feedback type. That said, due to the small sample size in this
study, more data should be collected to determine the generalizability of this
finding. Similarly, a larger sample size would be needed to confirm the general
trend in our data that feedback type and depth of processing interact, and that
this interaction is mediated by learner-related characteristics and background.

Our second research question concerned the relationship between DoP
and error type. Overall, we found that error type interacted with DoP for these
learner groups. Underlining feedback promoted the highest DoP for many error
types including inflectional morphology, mood, prepositions, and spelling for all
three learner groups, again echoing findings that indirect feedback promotes
higher DoP and providing evidence of the way this can be mediated by error
type for these learner groups. The L2 group demonstrated the highest DoP when
they received error coding feedback for punctuation, sentence structure, tense,
and word choice errors. Since L2 learners’ linguistic knowledge is often more
explicit and rule-based than that of HL learners, which is more implicit and intu-
itive, they may have benefited more from the direct metalinguistic guidance
provided to them via the error coding system. The HL learners had the highest
DoP for punctuation, tense, and word choice errors in the direct feedback con-
dition. HL learners are known to use a “sound it out” approach when revising



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written work (Yanguas & Lado, 2012; Zamora, 2022), and that is what we saw
happening in this case. Many HL learners dedicated significant amounts of time
to reading and rereading what they had written, making sure the added punc-
tuation or suggested new word sounded right, whereas other groups were more
likely to simply add a punctuation mark or change the word and move on. What
this would mean in terms of learning outcomes is unclear and should be studied
in future research. These data provide evidence of interaction between error type
and DoP, yet it is still difficult to draw clear conclusions from these results due
to small sample sizes for some error types. Overall, it seems that feedback type
and learner background mediated DoP to a greater extent than error type.

Our third and final research question asked about the relationship be-
tween DoP and error revision. We found that DoP and error revision did interact,
with higher DoP leading to more accurate error revision for all groups in the
underlining and error coding feedback conditions, which aligns with previous
findings about more substantive processing and error revision (Park & Kim, 2019;
Qi & Lapkin, 2001; Sachs & Polio, 2007). Underlining feedback promoted the
highest DoP and correct revision for the HL and L3 groups, while error coding
best achieved this for L2 learners. The L3 group was able to revise correctly with
low DoP more often than the HL or L2 groups. Again, this often occurred because
they were able to quickly identify their mistakes and fix them without deliberat-
ing. That said, accurate revision and high DoP did not always go hand in hand.
There were examples in every group and under every feedback condition of low
DoP leading to accurate revisions and medium or high DoP leading to inaccurate
revisions. These findings further reinforce the idea that writers’ background and
education experience are key variables to be considered when investigating
feedback processing and its potential effects on the revised text produced.
These insights also point to the necessary caution in generalizing findings across
educational contexts and populations.

6. Conclusions and pedagogical implications

This exploratory study provides a first look at L3 processing of WCF and bolsters
the amount of data we have on HL learners, a group that has been understudied
to date. The analyses showed that DoP was mediated by feedback type for HL,
L2,  and  L3  learners.  Direct  corrective  feedback  promoted  the  lowest  average
DoP for all three groups, while error coding and underlining promoted medium
and high DoP more often. The HL and L2 learners demonstrated similar DoP pat-
terns under each feedback condition, with coding and underlining promoting
similar amounts of low, medium, and high DoP for each group, whereas the L3
group was unique in processing error coding with much lower DoP than the



Heritage, second and third language learner processing of written corrective feedback: Evidence . . .

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other two groups and underlining with high DoP more often. It seems that these
learners, potentially due to their increased metalinguistic awareness, found it
easier to understand their errors marked with error coding than the other
groups and also had an advantage when it came to interpreting and applying
the implicit underlining feedback.

Along with feedback type, error type played a role in DoP for each learner
group. Overall, underlining led to the highest DoP for most error types for L3
learners. Inflectional morphology, mood, prepositions, and spelling were pro-
cessed most deeply in the underlining condition by all learners, but the L2 learners
processed punctuation, sentence structure, tense, and word choice errors most
deeply in the error coding condition and the HL group processed punctuation,
tense, and word choice errors most deeply upon receiving direct corrective feed-
back, often sounding out the suggestion to see if they agreed with it before edit-
ing. Finally, higher DoP was associated with correct revision and lower DoP tended
to be related to leaving errors unchanged or revising them incorrectly, at least
with coding and underlining feedback types. Direct corrective feedback led all
three learner groups to correctly revise their errors with low DoP far more often
than the other two types of WCF due to its transparent nature.

While this investigation was primarily exploratory in nature due to the small
sample size, a few pedagogical implications can be drawn. When it comes to feed-
back processing, underlining feedback promoted the highest DoP for the majority
of error types in all learner groups. The L3 learners especially processed this feed-
back type more deeply than the other learner groups, indicating that this feed-
back type is likely ideal for them if the goal is to promote deep processing. The L2
group  benefited  more  than  the  other  two  groups  from  the  metalinguistic  clues
provided via the error coding feedback, most likely because their linguistic
knowledge is primarily explicit and rule-based. That said, the HL and L2 groups
had similar rates of DoP in the error coding and underlining conditions, so both
feedback types could be beneficial for them. Direct corrective feedback promoted
the lowest DoP for all groups across most error types. However, HL learners often
spent significant amounts of time sounding out the direct feedback to make sure
they agreed with it, something that the other two groups did not do.

Some limitations that should be considered are the small number of par-
ticipants in the HL and L3 groups and the lack of a measure of learning. Our data
shed light on how learners process WCF and what they do when they revise
under different conditions, but we cannot speak to what impact the WCF had
on their learning. Leow (2020) explains that higher DoP can potentially lead
learners to restructure their inaccurate linguistic knowledge, and it is important
to include long-term measures of learning to be able to make conclusions about
the impact of WCF on language acquisition.



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Future studies of feedback processing should continue to compare these
three learner groups. Descriptions of observed learner revision behavior would
also be beneficial. In this study we found that HL and L3 learners’ behavior while
revising differed from that of their L2 peers in some ways. L3 learners often re-
vised very quickly and correctly, making minimal comments about their errors
yet seemingly understanding the feedback target. Students in the HL group of-
ten took time to read and reread the feedback aloud, sounding out their mis-
takes and the suggested solutions, even with direct feedback. As most DoP cod-
ing schemes used to date were designed with L2 learners in mind and do not
account for these behaviors, additional data should be collected to determine
whether adaptations to DoP coding schemes may be in order.



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APPENDIX

Prompts

Los recursos para los estudiantes
● ¿Crees que las universidades en los Estados Unidos deberían tener recursos y pro-

gramas específicamente para el apoyo de los estudiantes hispanos? ¿Por qué o por
qué no? ¿Qué tipo de recursos serían ideales?
(Do you think universities in the U.S. should have resources and programs specifi-
cally to support Hispanic students? Why or why not? What types of resources
would be ideal?)

La enseñanza de español
● ¿Crees que en las escuelas públicas en los Estados Unidos se debería enseñar el

español a todos los estudiantes desde el kínder, así como se enseña el inglés en
otros países? ¿Por qué? ¿Te gustaría haber tenido esa oportunidad?
(Do you think in public schools in the U.S. Spanish should be taught to all students
starting in kindergarten the way English is taught in other countries? Why? Would
you have liked to have that opportunity?)

Las señales
● ¿Crees que todas las señales de tránsito y los letreros en lugares públicos en los

Estados Unidos deberían ser traducidos al español? ¿Por qué? ¿Hay excepciones?
(Do you think all the traffic signs and other signs in public spaces in the U.S. should
be translated into Spanish? Why? Are there exceptions?)