What Students' E-Mails Tell Us about Their Needs

Autor/in	Al-Jarf, Reima
Titel	What Students' E-Mails Tell Us about Their Needs
Quelle	(2009) 23, S.7-9 (5 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1026-4353
Schlagwörter	Electronic Mail; Student Needs; Graduate Students; Undergraduate Students; Foreign Students; Citizenship; Arabs; Gender Differences; Help Seeking; Academic Advising; English (Second Language); Foreign Countries; Communication Strategies; Communication Problems; Theses; Saudi Arabia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Elektronischer Briefkasten; Graduate Study; Student; Students; Aufbaustudium; Graduiertenstudium; Hauptstudium; Studentin; Staatsbürgerschaft; Arab; Araber; Geschlechterkonflikt; Help-seeking behavior; Help-seeking behaviour; Hilfe suchendes Verhalten; Akademischer Rat; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Ausland; Kommunikationsstrategie; Kommunikationsbarriere; These; Saudi-Arabien
Abstract	E-mail messages received from 460 graduate and undergraduate students were analyzed for types of requests, academic needs, reasons for seeking author's help, communication strategies and cultural differences. Findings showed that 47% of the undergraduate subjects sought help with assignments; 31% asked an academic question about their courses; 22% asked the author to recommend a college for graduate study, 19% asked how to improve their English, 6% requested samples of college admission test questions; and 3% needed career advice. Unlike the undergraduate subjects, 38% of the graduate sample requested a list of references and websites for their respective theses; 27% asked questions about first and second language acquisition and how to teach EFL; 22% asked for the authors' publications; 13% asked the author to suggest a thesis topic for them; 11% asked the author to validate and edit their questionnaires; 6% requested a list of criteria, reading and speaking skills; 5% asked the author to read, edit their proposals and give suggestions for improvement; another 5% asked her to administer their questionnaires or to select the research sample for them, and requested permission to translate her articles or replicate a study of hers. As to communication strategies, non-Arab students' messages were courteous and showed ability to write a business letter and wrote a thank you note following my reply. By contrast, most Saudi students studying in the Kingdom, especially females, concealed their identity. Their messages were authoritative in tone, set a time limit for reply, some lacked courtesy and many gave excuses for their requests, and did not send a thank you message after receiving a reply. Furthermore, Saudi and Arab students' messages revealed academic problems such as lack of searching skills, inability to answer application questions, lack of mastery of research/proposal components (selecting topic, used to spoon-feeding, were not taught how to write a business letter), in addition to student characteristics and social factors. When asked why they sought help from me, the reported that their instructors and advisors were not specialized, were not available, not helpful, did not train them to search, did not provide guidance, did not encouraged asking questions from students, did not study research methodology nor library searching skills. Recommendations for improving the teaching learning situation at the graduate and undergraduate levels will be provided. (As Provided).
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01