Fine‐tuning Corrective Feedback

This paper explores the notion of “fine‐tuning” in connection with the corrective feedback process. The underlying argument is that the absence of fine‐tuning can be a potent source of ineffective feedback. Fine‐tuning is herein defined as a process whereby the provider of corrective feedback tunes in to the causal factors of an error and successfully brings the learner's attention to the learning problem. A longitudinal case study, conducted in the context of Norwegian as a second language, is presented to show how fine‐tuning and lack thereof in the provision of written corrective feedback differentially affects an L2 learner's restructuring of an interlanguage construction.