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The purpose of this study is mainly to find out the EFL learners' attitude towards corrective feedback. This paper also investigates types of learners who prefer the online or offline corrective feedback, and how feedback should be tailored to the needs of the learners.

The study was conducted on sixty female participants who were students of levels 7 and 8 of the B. A. program (English) at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia. They were administered a questionnaire comprising eight questions about corrective feedback from teachers individually and independently so that they could identify their own choices without any influence from other participants. The items in the questionnaire were closed items.

It was found that both types of feedbacks are essential to enhance learners' linguistic accuracy. Learners have shown their positive attitude towards teachers' corrective feedback because they consider it a motivating learning tool. Not only that the learners have expressed the view that corrective feedback is very useful in enhancing the learning process for EFL learners. On the other hand, some of the learners are not serious about going through corrective feedback given by teachers because sometimes they are unable to differentiate between what helps or hampers progress towards language learning. However, they preferred both online (immediate/automated) feedback and offline (delayed) feedback. In general, the results state that the learners have expressed the view that corrective feedback is very useful in enhancing the learning process for EFL learners.

This study has some limitations. The first one is the sample size. Only students from levels 7 and 8 (undergraduates) were taken into consideration. The second limitation is that the researchers focused on only one university in Saudi Arabia. The third limitation is that no male students participated in this study. The results might be different if the male students participated as well.

One vital point in employing CF in the language classrooms is timing. Considering the timing of corrective feedback, teachers face the problem of whether CF should be immediate (online) or delayed (offline).

The global financial crisis of 2008 has put greater doubt on the bank risk-management effectiveness around the world. As a part of the response to such doubt, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region is formulating some feasible approaches to manage bank risk. In this regard, an understanding of the role of the region’s culture and economic freedom will provide immense input into this risk management approach. This study examines the impact of national culture and economic freedom on bank risk-taking behavior.

Data on bank risk measures, culture and economic freedom are obtained from the FitchConnect, World Bank database, Hofstede’s insights and Heritage Foundation. Generalized least squares and two step-system generalized method of moments are then used to examine the risk-taking behavior of the region.

Banks of the GCC region operating in the low power distance, high collectivism, masculine and low uncertainty avoidance cultures are susceptible to assuming more operational and insolvency risks. Furthermore, banks’ overall risk-taking inclination is positively increased once the region has considerable business and monetary freedom.

The governments and bank regulatory bodies may benefit from the study findings by developing the best economic freedom index and national culture that enriches risk management practices and curves excessive risk-taking inclination.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first attempt to address the interplay among culture, economic freedom and bank risk to ensure constructive risk-taking behavior for the GCC banking industry.