This study compared the experiences of small groups of female Japanese university students communicating in English to solve tasks using online chat with those who solved the same tasks in face‐to‐face settings using spoken language. The groups were compared using a counterbalanced research design so that the nine groups consisting of four participants each took part in solving tasks in both the online mode and the traditional face‐to‐face setting. Data gathered from questionnaires, along with an analysis of the discourse produced by students, led to the conclusion that under the conditions in the study, online chatting provided a more comfortable environment, enhancing students’ willingness to communicate. Regarding benefits to the language teacher, online chat provides another fruitful tool to enhance interaction in the target language.

Despite the preponderance of advance fee fraud scams, many in society still fall victim to such con games. The internet has provided scammers with an opportunity to perpetrate fraud on a global scale. In particular, the 419 email scam has become a popular tool used by scammers to entice their victims. Our purpose is to establish rhetorical moves that exist in these 419 messages, and then analyze the intention of the scammers behind each move -a scam must shake the potential victim out of the status quo behavior. In other words, how is the content of particular moves able to facilitate change in a potential victim's mind, goading him or her to unwise action? After examining each move in light of features considered necessary for mind change, it was determined that the scammers are most concerned about building solidarity with the mark and playing to a mark's egocentrism, both of which keep the mark from making well-informed decisions.

This study examines the motivation of 20 Japanese students of English as a foreign language (EFL) who chatted electronically with 19 Taiwanese EFL students using online synchronous chat software. In particular, we were interested in four factors that affect task-based motivation: the willingness to communicate, task attractiveness, task innovativeness, and the need to communicate in the target language. Qualitative analysis of a posttest questionnaire and the texts that students produced during their online task reveal that students were generally motivated throughout the task with respect to all four of the factors. It is suggested that well-designed online chat tasks, whereby students need to arrive at a consensus via interaction, can be very motivating to students. For teachers, electronic synchronous chat represents one more valuable tool for language teachers to facilitate interaction in the target language.

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