There are a variety of factors that affect learning and teaching in educational contexts. Among these factors, teachers play an important role in student learning. Teachers not only deliver materials to learners but also guide learners in their learning experiences. While doing this, teachers allow learners to notice the progress they have been…

This paper describes a qualitative study of asynchronous electronic conferencing by three tutorial groups on the same postgraduate course ("Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Worldwide"), forming part of an MA in Applied Linguistics (via Distance Education) at the Open University, UK. The groups varied in the degree to which…