trouble attaching word docs to email

Hello,

I am having trouble attaching word documents to email. I have run the disk utility permissions fix suggested on this site. When I save the document to my desktop, it saves as a word document, witht he correct icon; however, when I attach it to my email (either Outlook or Shaw), it attaches as some sort of document that requires a download with a right click from my mouse (which entails a preference change). The problem is that my students can't open the documents; they send them in word, but when I send them back,they can't be opened in word. Any suggestions?

Thanks