Electronic foreign language interactions and variations among participants

It is implied that online discussions gives a certain sense of anonymity in that one does not necessarily know the gender, ethnicity or social status, to whom they are speaking. However, online discussions may incorporate characteristics that give away this anonymity. Recent studies have shown that there are differences in discourse among women and men in online communication and that gender plays an important role in determining the use and behaviour in computer-mediated communication. This paper presents results of a replication study examining whether gender differences exist among undergraduate students enrolled in the English for Specific Purposes courses. The data revealed that there were certain statistically significant gender differences. Further research and implications are discussed.