This paper considers the influence of e-tuition using an asynchronous written conferencing package, FirstClass, upon retention and success rates for Masters-level courses in a distance learning programme as compared with similar courses that were supported in a traditional manner using faceto-face tuition. The paper investigates the common assumption that the use of e-tuition might negatively influence both retention and success rates by studying data gathered on UK Open University Masters courses in education. These data have allowed direct comparisons between e-tutored and face-to-face tutored courses to be made. The effect of linking assessment to participation in activities using FirstClass is also considered in this study. This research has revealed that e-tutoring using FirstClass appears to have no significant positive or negative influence on either retention or success on such courses.

This is an exploratory study of the suitability of Form 4, 5 KBSM English textbooks used in Penang public secondary schools, Malaysia. It aims to investigate the relevance of the current textbooks to the needs of learners and the requirement of public examinations. A checklist is used to gauge teachers' viewpoints while subsequent interview sessions seek to reveal more insightful responses.

Increased concentrations of phosphorus (P) in riverine systems lead to eutrophication and can contribute to other environmental effects. Chalk rivers are known to be particularly sensitive to elevated P levels. We used high-frequency (daily) automatic water sampling at five distinct locations in the upper River Itchen (Hampshire, UK) between May 2016 and June 2017 to identify the main P species (including filterable reactive phosphorus, total filterable phosphorus, total phosphorus and total particulate phosphorus) present and how these varied temporally. Our filterable reactive phosphorus (considered the biologically available fraction) data were compared with the available Environment Agency total reactive phosphorus (TRP) values over the same sampling period. Over the trial, the profiles of the P fractions were complex; the major fraction was total particulate phosphorus with the mean percentage value ranging between 69 and 82% of the total P present. Sources were likely to be attributable to wash off from agricultural activities. At all sites, the FRP and Environment Agency TRP mean concentrations over the study were comparable. However, there were a number of extended time periods (1 to 2 weeks) where the mean FRP concentration (e.g. 0.62 mg L −1) exceeded the existing regulatory values (giving a poor ecological status) for this type of river. Often, these exceedances were missed by the limited regulatory monitoring procedures undertaken by the Environment Agency. There is evidence that these spikes of elevated concentrations of P may have a biological impact on benthic invertebrate (e.g. blue-winged olive mayfly) communities that exist in these ecologically sensitive chalk streams. Further research is required to assess the ecological impact of P and how this might have implications for the development of future environmental regulations.

Since the emergence of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), the belief that languages are acquired through communication has been a central tenet of language teaching methodology. This belief has continued to be central to the development of task-based approaches to language teaching that have built upon the ideas of CLT, its models of language learning and ideas of learner-centeredness. This paper considers strategies to maximize student communication within a task-based classroom environment and presents a case study into the use of pyramid discussions within a task-based classroom to maximize student communication. Working within Jane Willis' well-known task framework, this study shows how pyramid discussions can significantly help to increase student communication opportunities when compared to more traditional teacher-fronted approaches.

This paper outlines the findings of a research project studying the effects of task modification on learner interaction when using email. Taking as its starting point interactionalist theories of SLA, it argues that if those interactional features characteristic of negotiation of meaning which have been identified as promoting SLA are to be preserved when tasks are transferred from a face-to-face spoken environment to a computer-mediated written asynchronous environment, then modifications to the tasks need to be made.