Browsing by Author "Walker J"

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    Client satisfaction with English language centre service: Insights from a New Zealand national survey
    (MCB University Press, 2003) Walker J
    The TESOL (teaching of English to speakers of other languages) sector in New Zealand is rapidly developing into a major educational service industry. Despite their growing national importance, little is known about the performance of the English language centres (ELCs) that constitute the industry. This study investigated levels of client satisfaction with New Zealand ELC service at a national level. The research took a services management approach, using a multilingual questionnaire covering nine dimensions of ELC service. The findings indicated that, overall, clients registered mere satisfaction with the service provided. Statistical analysis identified significant differences between levels of client satisfaction in terms of client age and nationality and between ELCs of different type and size. While service provider personal attributes were positively rated by respondents, these did not play a major role as predictors of client satisfaction or the willingness to recommend an ELC.
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    Measuring plagiarism: Researching what students do, not what they say they do
    (Routledge, 2010) Walker J
    Student plagiarism in colleges and universities has become a controversial issue in recent years. A key problem has been the lack of reliable empirical data on the frequency, nature and extent of plagiarism in student assignments. The aim of the study described here was to provide this data. Patterns of plagiarism were tracked in two university business studies assignments involving over 500 students and over 1000 scripts. Turnitin software was used to facilitate the identification of plagiarised material in assignments. The findings confirmed some common assertions about the nature of student plagiarism but did not provide support for a number of others.