This study investigates the impact of direct and indirect Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) on the learning of past counterfactual conditionals among Iraqi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, considering the mediating role of language anxiety. Seventy-five participants were randomly assigned to direct WCF, indirect WCF, and a control group. Over two treatment sessions, participants completed text reconstruction tasks designed to elicit past counterfactual conditionals. Results indicated that both direct and indirect WCF groups significantly outperformed the control group, with no significant differences between the treatment groups, suggesting equal effectiveness. Examining the mediating role of language anxiety, significant and negative correlations between anxiety scores and pretest-posttest gain scores were found in both assessment tasks for the indirect WCF group, indicating mediation. However, no such relationships were observed for the direct WCF group. These findings offer insights into the nuanced dynamics of WCF effectiveness and the mediating influence of language anxiety in the EFL learning context. The study contributes to pedagogical practices by highlighting the importance of considering both feedback types and learners' affective factors in language instruction.
