RECAST SEEN THROUGH MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES’ LENS

Abstract

There has been a host of research on recast so far, despite which it is still controversial if it is any effective. The main argument against recasts is that they often go unnoticed by students due to their implicit nature. It is hypothesized in the light of the theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) that certain intelligences might affect the noticeability of recasts. Therefore, this paper aimed to find if certain intelligence help learners notice recasts. To fulfill this, 121 pre-intermediate EFL learners in 9 different classes were selected using convenience sampling. A questionnaire was used to measure their MI. Moreover, they were observed for 104 hours for the occurrence of recast and uptake using a checklist. For data analysis, multiple regression was used to find out if any components of MI were significant predictors of recasts’ success in leading to uptake. The results indicated that musical, visual, and verbal intelligence significantly predicted whether recasts will be perceived by students as corrective feedback. Therefore, it was concluded that it is essential to build MI into the picture when evaluating the efficacy of recasts on the grounds that students with certain dominant intelligence benefit from subtle clues which in turn help them notice recasts.