Introduction

Corrective feedback remains central to second and foreign language pedagogy because it provides learners with opportunities to notice discrepancies between their production (interlanguage) and target-language norms (language used by native speakers). Yet corrective feedback is far from uniform. Teachers may reformulate a learner’s utterance indirectly, explicitly provide the correct form, prompt self-correction, or request clarification. Each feedback type carries distinct cognitive, affective, and pedagogical consequences.

Within communicative methodologies such as Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), the challenge lies in correcting language without undermining interaction and student confidence. Consequently, researchers have increasingly focused not simply on whether feedback works, but on which kinds of feedback promote noticing, learner uptake, and long-term acquisition.

Lyster and Ranta’s (1997) seminal study on classroom interaction fundamentally shaped this discussion. They defined corrective feedback as “any reaction of the teacher which clearly transforms, disapprovingly refers to, or demands improvement of the learner utterance” (p. 46). Their taxonomy of feedback types remains one of the most influential frameworks in SLA research.

This paper explores major types of corrective feedback and their implications for classroom practice. It argues that effective feedback is not merely corrective but developmental, encouraging learners to engage actively with their evolving interlanguage systems.

Corrective Feedback and the Role of Noticing

It cannot be doubted that corrective feedback is deeply connected to the concept of noticing in SLA. We teachers need to understand that learners do not automatically acquire forms simply because they are exposed to them in class, in textbooks, in material they are interacting with. Rather, acquisition often depends on becoming consciously aware of discrepancies between intended and actual production, or between the foreign language structures and the mother tongue’s grammar.

Ellis, Loewen, and Erlam (2006) argue that “corrective feedback works by helping learners notice the gap between their own erroneous production and the target language form” (p. 340). This “gap” becomes a site of cognitive engagement where learners reevaluate hypotheses about language structure. Importantly, not all feedback types generate the same degree of noticing among learnrs. Some feedback is highly explicit, while other forms remain implicit and may go unnoticed altogether. The effectiveness of corrective feedback therefore depends partly on how visible the correction becomes to learners.

Recasts: Implicit Reformulation

Among the most common feedback strategies is the recast. A recast occurs when a teacher reformulates a learner’s incorrect utterance while preserving its meaning. For example:

Learner: He go to school yesterday. Teacher: Oh, he went to school yesterday?

Recasts are popular because they maintain conversational flow and minimize embarrassment. However, their implicit nature raises concerns regarding learner awareness. For instances, Lyster and Ranta (1997) observed that “recasts provided learners with reformulations of their non-target output without overtly signaling that an error had been committed” (p. 47). For this reason, teachers need to be in the lookout if recasts resemble ordinary conversational responses, learners may interpret them as confirmation rather than correction by the instructor.

Nevertheless, recasts remain valuable in fluency-oriented communicative tasks where interruption must be minimized. In CLT and TBLT classrooms, recasts allow teachers to preserve interaction while subtly modeling accurate forms.

Explicit Correction

Explicit correction involves directly indicating that an error has occurred and providing the correct form. Unlike recasts, this strategy leaves little ambiguity.

For example:

Learner: She don’t like coffee. Teacher: Not “don’t.” We say “doesn’t.”

Explicit correction facilitates clear noticing because learners immediately recognize the corrective intent. Ellis, Loewen, and Erlam (2006) note that “explicit feedback supplies learners with clear information regarding the incorrectness of their utterance” (p. 354).

Although explicit correction can be very effective for accuracy-focused instruction, overuse of this technique may threaten learner confidence in communicative contexts. Teachers must therefore consider proficiency level, classroom atmosphere, and task objective before employing highly direct correction.

Clarification Requests

Another technique is clarification requests that prompt learners to reconsider their utterance by signaling misunderstanding or communicative difficulty. Examples of this corrective action include interactions like the ones below where the teacher uses one of these following questions asking for clarification:

Teacher: “Sorry?” Teacher: “What do you mean?” Teacher: “Can you say that again?”

Unlike explicit correction, clarification requests encourage learners to self-monitor. Lyster and Ranta (1997) explain that clarification requests “indicate to learners either that their utterance has been misunderstood or that the utterance is ill-formed” (p. 47). This strategy aligns closely with communicative methodologies because it preserves interaction while fostering learner autonomy. Rather than supplying the answer immediately, the teacher creates opportunities for self-repair.

Elicitation and Prompting

Elicitation occurs when teachers strategically pause or prompt learners to produce the correct form themselves. For example:

Teacher: “Yesterday he…?” Teacher: “Can you try that again using the past tense?”

Lyster (2004) strongly advocates prompts such as elicitation because they encourage deeper cognitive processing. He argues that “prompts provide opportunities for learners to self-repair by generating target reformulations” (Lyster, 2004, p. 404).

This distinction is significant because student self-generated repair may strengthen retention more effectively than teacher-provided correction. Prompts transform learners from passive recipients of feedback into active participants in the correction process of ill-formed utterances.

Metalinguistic Feedback

Metalinguistic feedback provides comments, questions, or clues related to grammatical structure without directly supplying the answer. Examples of this other technique include:

Teacher: “Remember subject-verb agreement.” Teacher: “What tense should we use for yesterday?”

This strategy promotes learner analytical reflection and metalinguistic awareness. Ellis, Loewen, and Erlam (2006) emphasize that metalinguistic feedback “encourages learners to reflect consciously on linguistic form” (p. 356).

Because metalinguistic feedback requires learners to retrieve forms independently, it is especially useful with intermediate and advanced learners capable of engaging in explicit grammatical reasoning.

Repetition as Corrective Feedback

In similar language teaching scenarios, instructors may also repeat the learner’s erroneous utterance with altered intonation to highlight the problem.

Example:

Learner: She go every day. Teacher: She GO every day?

This technique draws attention to error without directly providing correction. According to Lyster and Ranta (1997), repetition “isolates the learner’s error and highlights it through emphasis” (p. 48).

Repetition is particularly effective when learners are capable of immediate self-correction but require a prompt to notice an ill-formed structure issue.

Learner Uptake and Self-Repair

One of the most important concepts in corrective feedback research is learner uptake. Uptake refers to the learner’s immediate response following feedback. Lyster and Ranta (1997) define uptake as “a student’s utterance that immediately follows the teacher’s feedback and that constitutes a reaction in some way to the teacher’s intention to draw attention to some aspect of the student’s initial utterance” (p. 49).

Importantly, not all feedback generates uptake equally. Research suggests that prompts and elicitation frequently produce higher levels of self-repair than recasts because learners must actively modify their own output. This finding aligns with socio-cognitive views of SLA, where acquisition is strengthened through active participation rather than passive reception.

Corrective Feedback in CLT and TBLT

Within either CLT or TBLT classrooms, corrective feedback must balance communicative flow with attention to form.

Feedback Type	Communicative Impact	Learner Involvement	Best Context
Recasts	Minimal interruption	Low	Fluency tasks
Explicit correction	High interruption	Moderate	Accuracy practice
Clarification requests	Moderate interruption	High	Interactive speaking
Elicitation	Moderate interruption	Very high	Guided production
Metalinguistic feedback	Moderate interruption	High analytical reflection	Intermediate / advanced learners
Repetition	Minimal to moderate interruption	Moderate	Oral interaction

This comparison demonstrates that no single feedback type is universally superior. Effectiveness depends on timing, proficiency level, task objective, and learner readiness.

Conclusion

Corrective feedback is not merely a classroom management technique but a fundamental component of interlanguage development. As Lyster, Ranta, and Ellis demonstrate, different feedback types generate different levels of noticing, uptake, and learner engagement.

Implicit feedback such as recasts preserves communicative flow, while prompts and metalinguistic feedback encourage deeper learner reflection and self-repair. Consequently, effective teachers must move beyond the simplistic question of whether to correct and instead ask which feedback strategy best supports acquisition in a particular context.

Ultimately, corrective feedback is most effective when it empowers learners to become active participants in analyzing and restructuring their own language systems. In communicative classrooms, correction should not silence learners; it should help them notice, reflect, and grow.

San José, Costa Rica

Sunday, May 31, 2026

📚 References

Ellis, R., Loewen, S., & Erlam, R. (2006). Implicit and explicit corrective feedback and the acquisition of L2 grammar. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 28(2), 339–368. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263106060141

Lyster, R. (2004). Differential effects of prompts and recasts in form-focused instruction. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26(3), 399–432. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263104263021

Lyster, R., & Ranta, L. (1997). Corrective feedback and learner uptake: Negotiation of form in communicative classrooms. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19(1), 37–66. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263197001034

Click to enlarge the infographics

Eça de Queirós remains one of the most important literary figures of nineteenth-century Portuguese literature. Although he is often associated with realism and social criticism, many of his short stories reveal a strong fascination with mystery, supernatural suggestion, Gothic atmospheres, and psychological ambiguity. From the very beginning of the story, Queirós constructs a Gothic environment through images of darkness, enclosure, and aristocratic severity. The palace of D. Alonso is described as “o escuro e gradeado palácio de D. Alonso de Lara, fidalgo de grande riqueza e maneiras sombrias” (Queirós, 1902/2002, Chapter I), thereby establishing an atmosphere marked by obscurity and psychological tension 

Among these stories, O Defunto occupies a unique place because it combines Catholic symbolism, medieval imagery, psychological tension, and supernatural intervention in a narrative that oscillates between realism and the fantastic. The story presents a world in which death, divine providence, and spectral manifestations intersect with human jealousy and moral corruption. Through this blend of realism and supernatural uncertainty, Queirós creates a text that can be fruitfully examined through the theoretical lenses of Tzvetan Todorov and Ferenc Kazinczy.

Synopsis of Todorov’s Theory of the Fantastic

In The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre, Tzvetan Todorov (1975) defines the fantastic as the moment of hesitation experienced by both a character and the reader when confronted with apparently supernatural events. According to Todorov (1975), the fantastic exists only while uncertainty remains unresolved. If the strange event eventually receives a rational explanation, the narrative enters the realm of the uncanny. If the supernatural is fully accepted as real, the narrative becomes marvelous. The fantastic therefore inhabits an unstable middle ground between skepticism and belief.

Todorov (1975) further argues that the fantastic depends upon three principal conditions. First, the fictional world must initially resemble ordinary reality and obey recognizable natural laws. Second, the reader and often the characters themselves must experience hesitation regarding the supernatural occurrence. Third, the text must resist purely allegorical or poetic interpretations that would dissolve the ambiguity of the event. The fantastic thus becomes an epistemological problem involving interpretation, perception, and uncertainty.

According to Bolongaro (2014), Todorov’s structural model transformed the study of fantastic literature by shifting critical attention away from supernatural content alone and toward the reader’s interpretive experience. Similarly, Roger Caillois (1966) argues that fantastic literature destabilizes the reader’s understanding of reality by introducing events that threaten rational systems of explanation. These perspectives are particularly relevant for understanding the ambiguous supernaturalism present in O Defunto.

Another important aspect of Todorov’s framework concerns narrative perspective. Todorov (1975) notes that fantastic literature frequently employs limited narration or psychologically vulnerable characters whose perceptions may not be entirely reliable. This narrative strategy intensifies ambiguity because readers cannot fully determine whether supernatural phenomena objectively occur or merely reflect subjective states of mind.

Kazinczy’s Aesthetic Perspective and Literary Refinement

Unlike Todorov, Ferenc Kazinczy did not formulate a systematic theory of fantastic literature. Instead, his literary importance lies in his aesthetic philosophy and his efforts to cultivate linguistic and artistic refinement within literature. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica (n.d.), Kazinczy played a central role in the modernization of Hungarian literary language and promoted ideals associated with Enlightenment aesthetics and European classicism.

Kazinczy emphasized elegance, emotional nuance, stylistic harmony, and expressive sophistication as essential literary values. His literary philosophy was heavily influenced by writers such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and William Shakespeare, whose works demonstrated the artistic possibilities of psychologically rich and aesthetically refined prose and drama.

Queirós’s prose demonstrates the type of aesthetic refinement associated with Kazinczy’s literary ideals. D. Leonor is described as “uma menina falada em Castela pela sua alvura, cabelos cor de sol-claro e colo de garça real” (Queirós, 1902/2002, Chapter I). The poetic imagery and rhythmic elegance of this description elevate the narrative beyond simple storytelling and transform physical beauty into an artistic experience shaped through refined language.

From a Kazinczyan perspective, literature should not merely narrate events but should elevate human sensibility through artistic beauty and emotional depth. This approach becomes highly relevant when examining O Defunto, since Queirós constructs his Gothic and supernatural atmosphere through carefully orchestrated prose rather than sensational excess. The emotional power of the story emerges from its stylistic control, symbolic imagery, and rhythmic narrative structure.

The Fantastic Structure of O Defunto

Several scholars have identified Gothic and fantastic elements in Queirós’s fiction. Matos (2020) argues that stories such as O Defunto, A Aia, and O Tesouro incorporate classic Gothic motifs including obscurity, suspense, supernatural suggestion, and fear. According to Matos (2020), Queirós does not employ these elements merely for entertainment but rather as literary mechanisms that deepen symbolic and psychological meaning.

In O Defunto, the narrative revolves around jealousy, betrayal, death, and divine intervention. The medievalized setting, nocturnal atmosphere, and religious symbolism create a world in which supernatural possibilities appear plausible despite the realistic texture of the narration. The appearance of the dead figure, o forcado (the hanged man), introduces precisely the kind of epistemological uncertainty described by Todorov (1975).

The reader continually hesitates between competing interpretations. Is o forcado (the dead man) genuinely returning from beyond the grave? Is the event a miraculous manifestation of divine justice? Or is the apparition merely a psychological projection generated by fear and guilt? Because the narrative refuses to provide definitive clarification, the story remains within the fantastic mode as defined by Todorov (1975).

Furthermore, Lopes and Siqueira (2018) observe that O Defunto blends fantastic hesitation with what may be described as Christian marvelous. In this context, supernatural intervention is linked not only to fear but also to spiritual transcendence and religious morality. This theological dimension complicates Todorov’s categories because Christian readers may interpret miraculous events differently from secular readers.

The fantastic reaches its highest intensity when D. Alonso discovers that the expected corpse, the man that he has staved to death, has mysteriously disappeared. The narrator states that he “não encontrara... o corpo de D. Rui de Cardenas” (Queirós, 1902/2002, Chapter IV). At this precise moment, both the character and the reader experience the hesitation described by Todorov (1975), since rational explanation begins to collapse before apparently supernatural, divine intervention.

Psychological Anxiety and Narrative Ambiguity

A Todorovian analysis of O Defunto reveals that Queirós carefully constructs narrative ambiguity through psychological tension and atmospheric uncertainty. Characters frequently inhabit emotional states dominated by anxiety, suspicion, fear, and guilt. These emotional conditions destabilize perception and intensify the uncertainty surrounding supernatural events.

D. Alonso’s jealousy gradually assumes pathological dimensions throughout the narrative. The narrator explains that he “constantemente agora o trazia vigiado” (Queirós, 1902/2002, Chapter II), revealing the obsessive surveillance through which fear and suspicion begin to dominate his perception of reality., his wife D. Leonor is being unfaithful to him with D. Rui. D. Alonso’s psychological instability contributes directly to the atmosphere of uncertainty that Todorov (1975) identifies as essential to the fantastic mode.

According to David Roas (2011), fantastic literature derives much of its power from its capacity to undermine the reader’s confidence in reality itself. The supernatural becomes disturbing precisely because it disrupts ordinary epistemological frameworks. In O Defunto, death ceases to function as a definitive boundary separating the living from the dead. The apparent permeability between these realms generates existential and psychological instability. It is in this type of realm that o forcado is able to help D. Rui since D. Leonor’s prayer to Santa Virgem do Pilar and since the Virgin has commanded him to do so.

Queirós intensifies this effect through descriptive language filled with darkness, silence, sacred spaces, shadows, and nocturnal imagery. Such Gothic elements create an environment in which ordinary rationality becomes increasingly fragile. As Todorov (1975) explains, the fantastic depends upon this instability because uncertainty itself constitutes the essence of the genre.

Stylistic Beauty and Kazinczyan Refinement

While Todorov’s framework explains the structural ambiguity of O Defunto, Kazinczy’s aesthetic ideals help illuminate the artistic sophistication of Queirós’s prose. The story’s effectiveness depends not only upon supernatural uncertainty but also upon the elegance with which the atmosphere is constructed.

The reader is then able to understand that Queirós employs rhythmic prose, symbolic density, and emotional restraint to create tension gradually rather than relying upon explicit horror. From a Kazinczyan perspective, this stylistic refinement transforms the story into a work of aesthetic harmony rather than mere Gothic sensationalism. It is not just a supernatural narrative where a dead forcado turns back to life to help a lady in distress, to aid D. Rui who has been deceived, and to redeem himself for whatever reason he was hanged up.

Kazinczy (n.d.) believed that literary language should cultivate emotional sensitivity and artistic appreciation. In O Defunto, Queirós achieves this through subtle narrative pacing and carefully balanced imagery. The supernatural elements are presented with poetic ambiguity, allowing the story to oscillate between terror and transcendence.

Herrero Cecilia (2010) argues that fantastic literature often functions through a “poetics of indeterminacy” in which uncertainty itself becomes aesthetically productive. This observation aligns closely with both Todorov’s structuralism and Kazinczy’s aesthetic ideals. In Queirós’s story, ambiguity becomes not only a thematic device but also an artistic principle.

This aestheticization of the fantastic distinguishes Queirós from purely Gothic sensationalism. The story’s emotional power emerges from the fusion of beauty and fear. Such fusion resembles what later theorists of the fantastic would describe as the coexistence of attraction and anxiety within supernatural literature. Juan Herrero Cecilia (2010) notes that fantastic literature frequently operates through a “poetics of indeterminacy,” in which uncertainty itself becomes aesthetically productive. From a Kazinczyan perspective, the literary value of O Defunto lies precisely in this aesthetic control. The language shapes emotional perception with elegance and discipline, allowing the supernatural to appear both believable and transcendent.

Religion, Morality, and Symbolic Justice

Another important dimension of O Defunto concerns morality and divine justice. Unlike many modern fantastic narratives that emphasize existential absurdity, Queirós’s story retains a strong ethical framework. The supernatural intervention appears connected to moral restoration and spiritual order.

The conclusion of the story transforms supernatural fear into spiritual transcendence. D. Rui raises his eyes “com uma esperança muito pura e toda feita de graça celeste, como se um anjo o chamasse” (Queirós, 1902/2002, Chapter V). This celestial imagery complicates Todorov’s categories because the supernatural event can simultaneously be interpreted as miraculous intervention, psychological redemption, or divine providence.

This moral dimension complicates Todorov’s theory because the fantastic in O Defunto does not merely generate epistemological uncertainty; it also points toward metaphysical meaning. The apparition of the dead figure functions simultaneously as Gothic horror and sacred sign. The supernatural therefore becomes ethically charged.

Scholars examining Queirós’s fantastic fiction have often observed that his narratives combine irony, realism, and spiritual symbolism. Vera Lúcia Silva (2007) argues that Queirós frequently employs fantastic discourse to explore deeper tensions within modern society, religion, and psychological consciousness. In O Defunto, supernatural ambiguity ultimately reveals anxieties concerning sin, guilt, divine judgment, and redemption.

This moral and symbolic complexity also resonates with Kazinczy’s literary ideals. For Kazinczy (n.d.), literature possessed ethical and cultural functions beyond entertainment. Artistic beauty contributed to the refinement of human sensibility and moral awareness. O Defunto fulfills this ideal by transforming a tale of death and jealousy into a meditation on transcendence and spiritual accountability.

Conclusion

A combined Todorovian and Kazinczyan reading of O Defunto demonstrates the richness and complexity of Eça de Queirós’s short fiction. Through Todorov’s theory of the fantastic, the story emerges as a narrative structured around hesitation, ambiguity, and epistemological instability. The reader remains suspended between rational explanation and supernatural belief, thereby experiencing the essential uncertainty that defines the fantastic genre. Queirós achieves this effect through limited perception, Gothic atmosphere, psychological tension, and unresolved supernatural phenomena.

At the same time, Kazinczy’s aesthetic principles illuminate the stylistic sophistication of the narrative. The power of O Defunto lies not solely in its supernatural content but in the artistic refinement of its language and atmosphere. Queirós transforms Gothic motifs into aesthetically controlled literary expressions marked by elegance, symbolic resonance, and emotional nuance.

Additional scholars such as Roger Caillois (1966), Louis Vax (1965), Irène Bessière (1974), and David Roas (2011) further reinforce the understanding of fantastic literature as a mode that destabilizes reality while revealing deeper cultural and psychological anxieties. In Queirós’s story, the fantastic becomes not merely a literary device but a means of exploring morality, faith, fear, and transcendence.

Ultimately, O Defunto remains suspended between supernatural mystery and spiritual transcendence. The final reference to rulers “por quem Deus operou grandes feitos sobre a terra e sobre o mar” (Queirós, 1902/2002, Chapter V) reinforces the narrative’s unresolved oscillation between divine miracle and fantastic uncertainty. Through this ambiguity, Queirós creates a story that  demonstrates that Queirós cannot be confined exclusively to realism. His fiction frequently traverses the borders between realism, Gothic narrative, religious symbolism, and the fantastic. Through the convergence of Todorov’s structural ambiguity and Kazinczy’s aesthetic refinement, the story reveals itself as a carefully crafted meditation on death, uncertainty, and the mysterious permeability between the visible and invisible worlds.

San José, Costa Rica

Friday, May 29, 2026

📚 References

Bessière, I. (1974). Le récit fantastique: La poétique de l’incertain. Larousse.

Bolongaro, E. (2014). The fluidity of the fantastic: Todorov’s legacy to literary criticism. Ticontre. Teoria Testo Traduzione, 1, 25–38. https://doi.org/10.15168/t3.v1i1.18

Caillois, R. (1966). Au cœur du fantastique. Gallimard.

Herrero Cecilia, J. (2016). Sobre los aspectos fundamentales de la estética del género fantástico y su evolución desde lo fantástico “romántico” a lo fantástico “posmoderno”. Çédille: Revista de Estudios Franceses, 6, 15–51. https://www.ull.es/revistas/index.php/cedille/article/view/1227

Kazinczy, F. (n.d.). Literary and linguistic writings. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ferenc-Kazinczy

Lopes, A. C. C. V., & Siqueira, A. M. A. (2018). A representação do “milagre” em “Natal na barca” e “O defunto”: Diferentes manifestações literárias do insólito. Raído, 12(29), 98–112. https://doi.org/10.30612/raido.v12i29.7767

Matos, X. A. (2020). Eça de Queirós contista: O gótico nas narrativas “A aia”, “O tesouro” e “O defunto”. Em Tese, 25(1), 210–222. https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/emt/article/view/31551

Queirós, E. de. (2002). Contos. Livros do Brasil.

Roas, D. (2011). Tras los límites de lo real: Una definición de lo fantástico. Páginas de Espuma.

Silva, V. L. (2007). O fantástico em O Mandarim, de Eça de Queirós. Uniletras, 29(1), 89–102. https://revistas.uepg.br/index.php/uniletras/article/view/198

Todorov, T. (1975). The fantastic: A structural approach to a literary genre (R. Howard, Trans.). Cornell University Press. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL5304664M/The_fantastic

Vax, L. (1965). L’art et la littérature fantastiques. Presses Universitaires de France.

 

Click to enlarge the infographics