Using Moore's (1993) theory of transactional distance as a framework, this action research study explored students' perceptions of audiovisual feedback provided via screencasting as a supplement to text-only feedback. A crossover design was employed to ensure that all students experienced both text-only and text-plus-audiovisual feedback and to…

This article examines the relationship between writing and attention problems and hypothesizes that homophone spelling errors coincide with attention deficits. We analyze specific types of attention deficits, which may contribute to Attention Deficits Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); rather than studying ADHD, however, we focus on the inattention…

This study examines how Japanese students perceive the qualities of written arguments that were constructed to have different forms. Based on the theoretical dimensions of verbal communication styles that Gudykunst and Ting-Toomey (1988) proposed, the research questions asked whether the respondents would perceive direct arguments to be of higher…

The Office of Indian Education (OIE) in the U.S. Department of Education funds competitive grants for Native American school leadership preparation programs in order to improve the education of disadvantaged students identified under the 2001 "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) reauthorization of "Elementary and Secondary Education…

This study explores task-based, synchronous oral computer-mediated communication (CMC) among intermediate-level learners of Spanish. In particular, this paper examines (a) how learners in video and audio CMC groups negotiate for meaning during task-based interaction, (b) possible differences between both oral CMC modes and traditional face-to-face…

This paper investigated students' perceptions of written assignment feedback. In the first study students (n = 57) reflected on the feedback they had received on a range of assessment tasks and described aspects of helpful and unhelpful assessor comments. A content analysis of student descriptions was undertaken to identify the domain of criteria…

This study investigates connections between teacher and student attitudes related to the delayed (or immediate) introduction of Japanese script in the Japanese language classroom. Two groups of students completed questionnaires concerning their attitudes toward the immediate or delayed introduction of Japanese script and the use of romaji…

A study investigated 42 native English-speakers' (NSs) perceptions of the pragmatic appropriateness of refusal statements. The NSs rated the appropriateness of 24 written statements in 4 different refusal scenarios, which were collected from both native speakers and non-native speakers. Four weeks later, as a reliability check, the subjects rated…

This research note reports on a study to investigate what English language skills are used by new graduate employees in their daily work in various departments in four banks in Hong Kong. Through interviews with 16 new bank employees across these four banks and the use of questionnaires, my aim was to determine what proportion of their daily…

Focuses on written business communication in a changing technological environment. The article presents the results of a questionnaire and interview study conducted among Finnish business professionals on their English business communication with special emphasis on developments in the organization, structure, and language of written…