Nascent research into computer-mediated feedback has demonstrated its potential effectiveness for providing extensive and detailed feedback. However, a dearth of research exists on international doctoral students’ perceptions of online feedback. Thus, our exploratory qualitative study reported in this article investigated the use of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) (e.g., Skype) software to provide feedback on academic writing to international doctoral students in a TESOL Education program at a large urban university in the US. Each student participated in six feedback sessions in which they engaged in think-aloud while reacting to feedback on their academic writing presented through several online modes. The think-aloud sessions were followed by semi-structured interviews. The themes of negotiated feedback and micro-mentoring emerged when the use of online communication technologies allowed the feedback process to become more bi-directional. Based on our findings, we concluded that VoIPenabled feedback had the potential to facilitate the scaffolding of academic writing development of international graduate students.

The article portrays one way in which academic voices and social identity can develop and constitute each other through the affordances of computer-mediated communication in the classroom. In this article, I present a case study in which voice is treated as an analytic means for understanding the complexities undergone by an L2 graduate student as she was transitioning into an L2 academic community. I highlight how voice as ideological point of view is developed through dialogic interactions with others, and such development can be traced through the discursive constructs such as intertextual relations and epistemic/affective stance. This study has important educational implications in relation to the academic writing/reading of L2 students with differing needs and the provision of opportunities for access to the curriculum.