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Recast

A recast is a form of corrective feedback in which the teacher or interlocutor reformulates all or part of a learner’s erroneous utterance in correct form — without explicitly labeling it as an error and without interrupting the flow of communication. Recasts are the most frequently observed type of corrective feedback in language classrooms and conversational contexts. See also Recasts and Recasting.

What a Recast Looks Like

> Learner: Yesterday I go to the store.

> Teacher: Oh, you went to the store? What did you buy?

The teacher reformulates go → went and continues the conversation. The correction is implicit — the learner may or may not notice it was a correction.

The Effectiveness Debate

Recasts are controversial in SLA research precisely because they are ambiguous: the learner may interpret the recast as confirmation of their meaning (not as a correction) rather than a form-focused repair. This is the core critique — recasts may not promote noticing (see Noticing Hypothesis).

Research on effectiveness is mixed:

  • In support: Lyster & Ranta (1997), Mackey & Philp (1998) found recasts can promote short-term development
  • Against: Lyster (2004) found recasts lead to less uptake than prompts or explicit correction, which force the learner to self-repair

Uptake — what the learner does immediately after feedback — tends to be lower for recasts than for explicit correction, though long-term effects are less clear.

When Recasts Are More Effective

  • When the learner is developmentally ready for the target form
  • When the recast is short and focused (single error, not a restructured sentence)
  • When there is an established classroom culture of attending to form
  • In one-on-one interactions rather than group settings

Recasts vs Prompts

Prompts are explicit elicitation techniques — pausing meaningfully, saying “How do we say that?”, or repeating the error with question intonation — that push the learner to self-correct. Research generally finds prompts lead to higher uptake (self-repair) than recasts, though recasts are more naturalistic and less face-threatening.

Related Terms

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