Politeness and face in digitally reconfigured e-learning spaces

This paper has two starting points. The first is a theorization about the way in which “rhetorical space” is reshaped in asynchronous, online, learning environments. In particular, an asynchronous bulletin- board (ABB) discussion offers both opportunities and constraints for teaching and learning. The learning that occurs will be affected by the affordances implicit in the design of the conversational space itself and the communicative practices engaged in by both teachers and students. The second starting point is a small case study, utilizing action research and discourse analytical strategies, whose research participants were the author and students involved in “delivering” and “receiving” an online education course at post-graduate level using asynchronous discussion. The course, taught in English, had a mix of Chinese students (for whom English was an additional language) and native English speakers. The paper will report on students’ perceptions of what worked for them and what didn’t in respect of this elearning environment. It will also use concepts such as politeness, face and positioning to analyse aspects of the participants’ communicative practices and will draw conclusions from these in respect of how successful learning can occur in elearning environments with multicultural and multilingual students. It will make connections between the findings of this case study and other research on asynchronous, web-based learning and will makes some suggestions about what is needed in respect of the future research agenda

Branding Nordic Seaweed: An Applied Multimodal Perspective

Developments in digital infrastructure in the past decade have allowed new marketing channels and opportunities for small medium enterprises (SME). This study was designed to illustrate how a multimodal analysis approach can be used to study how Nordic seaweed SMEs use a web-based presence to brand and position their products and services. The study provides an investigation and description of how Nordic seaweed SMEs reach their consumers through multimodal channels of communication, taking an active role in educating their consumers about regenerative seaweed harvesting and concepts of ‘slow living’. The findings indicate that SME owners communicate at several target consumer levels, including taking on a public educator role, to help consumers make sustainable food choices towards a more environmentally sustainable diet for the future.publishedVersio

Turning Unstructured and Incoherent Group Discussion into DATree: A TBL Coherence Analysis Approach

Despite the rapid growth of user-generated unstructured text from online group discussions, business decision-makers are facing the challenge of understanding its highly incoherent content. Coherence analysis attempts to reconstruct the order of discussion messages. However, existing methods only focus on system and cohesion features. While they work with asynchronous discussions, they fail with synchronous discussions because these features rarely appear. We believe that discussion logic features play an important role in coherence analysis. Therefore, we propose a TCA method for coherence analysis, which is composed of a novel message similarity measure algorithm, a subtopic segmentation algorithm and a TBL-based classification algorithm. System, cohesion and discussion logic features are all incorporated into our TCA method. Results from experiments showed that the TCA method achieved significantly better performance than existing methods. Furthermore, we illustrate that the DATree generated by the TCA method can enhance decision-makers’ content analysis capability

Training language teachers to sustain self-directed language learning: an exploration of advisers' experiences on a web-based open virtual learning environment

[EN] This article describes the rationale for pedagogical, technological and organizational choices in the design of a web-based and open virtual learning environment (VLE) promoting and sustaining self-directed language learning. Based on the last forty years of research on learner autonomy at the CRAPEL according to Holec's definition (1988), we designed a global VLE for researchers working on language learning autonomy, teachers with various degrees of practice and experience in self-directed learning, and language learners. The VLE is thus divided into three spaces for the different types of participant, each offering dedicated social networking possibilities and resources to enrich the others. Our study focuses on the space dedicated to teacher training, the main objective being to help them build knowledge and skills for a new educational role in the paradigm of language learning autonomy (LLA). This space contains specially created Web-TV resources and audio podcasts of self-directed learning advising sessions, is based on reflective analysis and relies on a professional social network, following the principles of the “community of practice” (Wenger, 1998). In line with the principles of self-directed learning, teachers acting as trainers in the VLE mainly enact supportive and facilitative functions as advisers do in face-to-face interactions. We explore how training for advisers is organized in this online environment characterized by a high degree of openness (Jézégou, 2010). We report on findings from the way teachers within their dedicated space, using quantitative and qualitative data collected from interviews, questionnaires and analysis of logs. We look at the tensions that emerge as teachers conceive their new role and engage in new training practices given the opportunities afforded by the environment. The data provide insights to how the VLE can support training practices based on reflection, participation and collaboration.Bailly, S.; Ciekanski, M.; Guély-Costa, E. (2013). Training language teachers to sustain self-directed language learning: an exploration of advisers' experiences on a web-based open virtual learning environment. The EuroCALL Review. 21(1):35-53. https://doi.org/10.4995/eurocall.2013.10161OJS3553211Bailly, S. (1995). "La formation de conseillers", Mélanges CRAPEL, 22: 63-83.Barbier, J.M. (2000). L'analyse de la singularité de l'action. Paris: PUF.Barbot, M.J. (Ed). (1998). "Ressources: excès et accès", Etudes de Linguistique Appliquée, 112.Benson, P. and Voller, P. (Eds) (1997). Autonomy and independence in language learning. London: Longman.Benson, P. (1998). "The semiotics of self-access language learning in the digital age", in Darleguy, V., Ding, A. and Svensson, M. (Eds). Educational Technology in Language Learning: Theoretical Considerations and Practical Applications. Lyon: Centre de Ressources en Langues.Billet, S. and Somerville, M. (2004). "Transformations at Work: Identity and Learning", Studies in Continuing Education, 26(2): 309-326.Blin, F. (2005). CALL and the development of learner autonomy - an activity theoretical study. Unpublished doctoral thesis, Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University, UK.Boulton, A. (2006). "Autonomy and the Internet in Distance Learning: reading between the e-lines", Mélanges CRAPEL, 28: 101-122.Bruner, J. (1996). The Culture of Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Brockbank, A. and McGill, I. (2006). Facilitating reflective learning through mentoring and coaching. London: Kogan Page.Carette E., Guély E. and Pereiro M. (2011). "Création et accompagnement d'un centre de langues privé : un exemple de collaboration entre recherche en didactique des langues et entreprise", Mélanges CRAPEL, 32: 25-43.Cembalo, S. M. (1995). "Le catalogage, l'indexation et les fichiers dans les centres de ressources en langues", Mélanges CRAPEL, 22: 95-104.Ciekanski, M. (2005). L'accompagnement à l'autoformation en langue étrangère: contribution à l'analyse des pratiques professionnelles: Etude des dimensions langagières et formatives des pratiques dites «de conseil» dans des systèmes d'apprentissage autodirigé en langue étrangère. Unpublished PhD. Université Nancy 2, France. Available from http://tel.archivesouvertes.fr/docs/00/39/89/40/PDF/These_mciekanski.pdf. Last accessed 15/01/2013.Clark, H., and Brennan S.E. (1991). "Grounding in communication", in Resnick, L.B., Levine, J.M. and Teasley, S.D. (Eds). Perspectives on Socially Shared Cognition. Washington, USA. American Psychological Association, 127-149.Comas Quinn, A. (2011). "Learning to teach online or learning to become an online teacher: an exploration of teachers' experiences in blended learning course", ReCALL, 23(3): 218-232.Demaizière, F. and Foucher, A-L. (1998). "Individualisation et initiative de l'apprenant dans des environnements et des dispositifs d'apprentissage ouverts: une experience d'autoformation guidée", Etudes de Linguistique Appliquée, 110: 227-236.Eneau, J. and Develotte, C. (2012). "Working together online to enhance learner autonomy: Analysis of learners' perceptions of their online experience", ReCALL, 24(1): 3-19.Gardner, D.and Miller, L. (1999). Establishing Self-access. From Theory to Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of Talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Gremmo, M.-J. (1995a). "Former les apprenants à apprendre: les leçons d'une expérience", Mélanges CRAPEL, 22: 9-32.Gremmo, M.-J. (1995b). "Conseiller n'est pas enseigner: le rôle du conseiller dans l'entretien de conseil", Mélanges CRAPEL, 22: 33-61.Henri F. and Lundgren-Cayrol, K. (2001). Apprentissage collaboratif à distance. Pour comprendre et concevoir les environnements d'apprentissage virtuels. Sainte-Foy: Presses Universitaires du Québec.Herring, S. (1999). "Interactional coherence in CMC", Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 4(4). Available from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol4/issue4/herring.html. Last accessed 15/01/2013.Holec, H. (1979) Autonomie et apprentissage des langues étrangères. (Education et culture). Strasbourg: Conseil de l'Europe.Holec, H. (1988). Autonomy and self-directed learning: present fields of application (Autonomie et apprentissage autodirigé: terrains d'application actuels). Strasbourg: Council for Cultural Co-operation.Ismaïl N. and Bailly S. (2011). "Evaluation des effets de l'accompagnement sur l'autoformation d'apprenants de FLE dans un dispositif de formation ouverte", Mélanges CRAPEL, 32: 133-161.Jézégou, A. (2002). "Formations ouvertes et autodirection: pour une articulation entre libertés de choix et engagement cognitif de l'apprenant", Education permanente, 152: 43-53.Jézégou, A. (2010). "Le dispositif GEODE pour évaluer l'ouverture d'un environnement éducatif", The Journal of Distance Education , 24(2). Available from http://www.jofde.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/625/1120. Last accessed 15/01/2013.Kato, S. (2012). "Professional development for learning advisors: Facilitating the intentional reflective dialogue", Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 3(1): 74-92.Lamy, M-N. and Hampel, R. (2007). Online communication in language learning and teaching. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge University Press.Leontiev, A.N. (1978). Activity, Consciousness, and Personality. Hillsdale: Prentice-Hall.Light P. and Light V. (1999) "Analyzing asynchronous learning interactions. Computermediated communication in a conventional undergraduate setting", in Littleton, K. and Light P. (Eds.). Learning with computers: analyzing productive interaction. London: Routledge, pp. 46-61.Little, D. (1991). Learner autonomy 1: Definitions, issues and problems. Dublin: Authentik.Mangenot, F. and Célik, C. (2004). "Caractéristiques discursives de la communication pédagogique par forum", Les Carnets du CEDISCOR , 8: 75-88.McLoughlin, C. (2002). "Learner support in distance and networked learning environments. Ten dimensions for successful design", Distance Education, 23(2): 149-162.McLouglin, C. and Marshall, L. (2000). "Scaffolding: a model for learner support in an online teaching environment", in Herran, A. and Kulski, M.M. (Eds), Flexible Futures in tertiary Teaching. Proceedings of the 9th Annual Teaching and Learning Forum 2000. 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Proceedings ICPW'07: 2nd International Conference on the Pragmatic Web, 22-23 Oct. 2007, Tilburg: NL

Proceedings ICPW'07: 2nd International Conference on the Pragmatic Web, 22-23 Oct. 2007, Tilburg: N

Metadiscourse analysis of digital interpersonal interactions in academic settings in Turkey

Rapid technological advances, efficiency and easy access have firmly established emailing as a vital medium of communication in the last decades. Nowadays, all around the world, particularly in educational settings, the medium is one of the most widely used modes of interaction between students and university lecturers. Despite their important role in academic life, very little is known about the metadiscursive characteristics of these e-messages and as far as the author is aware there is no study that has examined metadiscourse in request emails in Turkish. This study aims to contribute to filling in this gap by focusing on the following two research questions: (i) How many and what type of interpersonal metadiscourse markers are used in request emails sent by students to their lecturers? (ii) Where are they placed and how are they combined with other elements in the text? In order to answer these questions a corpus of unsolicited request e-mails in Turkish was compiled. The data collection started in January 2010 and continued until March 2018. A total of 353 request emails sent from university students to their lecturers were collected. The data were first transcribed in CLAN CHILDES format and analysed using the interpersonal model. The metadiscourse categories that aimed to involve readers in the email were identified and classified. Next, their places in the text were determined and described in detail. Findings of the study show that request emails include a wide array of multifunctional interpersonal metadiscourse markers which are intricately combined and employed by the writers to reach their aims. The results also showed that there is a close relation between the “weight of the request” and number of the interpersonal metadiscourse markers in request mails

Exploiting Emotions in Social Interactions to Detect Online Social Communities

The rapid development of Web 2.0 allows people to be involved in online interactions more easily than before and facilitates the formation of virtual communities. Online communities exert influence on their members’ online and offline behaviors. Therefore, they are of increasing interest to researchers and business managers. Most virtual community studies consider subjects in the same Web application belong to one community. This boundary-defining method neglects subtle opinion differences among participants with similar interests. It is necessary to unveil the community structure of online participants to overcome this limitation. Previous community detection studies usually account for the structural factor of social networks to build their models. Based on the affect theory of social exchange, this research argues that emotions involved in social interactions should be considered in the community detection process. We propose a framework to extract social interactions and interaction emotions from user-generated contents and a GN-H co-training algorithm to utilize the two types of information in community detection. We show the benefit of including emotion information in community detection using simulated data. We also conduct a case study on a real-world Web forum dataset to exemplify the utility of the framework in identifying communities to support further analysis

New Alterities and Emerging Cultures of Social Interaction

Globalization has generated increased societal heterogeneity and awakened interest of a new kind in social cohesion and integration. But globalization is not the only contemporary process to give rise to societal hybridization. Two other such processes - much less attended to in the theoretical debate but no less problematic as regards social integration - are societal ageing and robotization. Drawing on statistical estimates, this paper begins by assessing the relevance of these new processes of hybridization. The predictions in question indicate that in the near future, everyday interaction, not just with cultural strangers and 'intelligent' machines, but also with people suffering from dementia, will be an omnipresent phenomenon, confronting our societies with types and degrees of alterity never before encountered. Whereas contact with cultural strangers is to some extent familiar (though not yet taken as standard), interaction with intelligent technological devices and dementia sufferers represent new forms of alterity for which most societies have not yet established routines of conduct. This paper gives a detailed account of a number of empirical studies showing how new forms of hybrid interaction and cooperation evolve out of repeated contact with each of the three alterities. With this groundwork in place, the paper then attempts to identify not only the ways in which routines may develop out of interaction with the three alterities but also the trends towards, and prerequisites for, the emergence of a new culture of cooperation and interaction