Instant messaging in work-based virtual teams: the analysis of non-verbal communication used for the contextualisation of transactional and relational communicative goals

In this thesis, I use a multi-perspectival analytical approach to investigate the paralanguage of naturally occurring work-based Instant Message conversations. My research into the field of computer-mediated discourse analysis (CMDA) has shown that written non-verbal cues have been considered as important means of contextualising text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC), yet their scholarly treatment has been scant. Previous findings about the importance paralanguage in CMD have been further strengthened by the findings of the field of business communication: in the virtual work environment the lack of audio-visual information has been found to contribute to miscommunication and consequently hinder cooperation. The linguistic devices and discursive strategies that are used in order to compensate for the limitations imposed by the text-based communicative channel have therefore been identified as in need of further exploration. In this thesis, I have outlined a CMC cue system based on the previous findings of CMDA to investigate the range of cues used as non-verbal signals in workplace text- based CMC. I have also used a multi-perspectival approach based on the theoretical frameworks of interactional sociolinguistics, communities of practice, relational work and politeness and conversation analysis (CA) in order to investigate the range of interactional roles of paralanguage during computer-mediated business conversations. The interpretive CA-informed analysis I have conducted has provided evidence of the important role of non-verbal signals during the contextualisation of complex transactional and relational communicative goals in the workplace. The analysis in this thesis has provided two significant results: firstly, by incorporating the findings of research into paralanguage of spoken as well as other written genres it resulted in a comprehensive description of the orthographic and typographic non-verbal cues used in text-based CMC and, secondly, by drawing on the multi-perspectival framework, it allowed for a description of the complex interactional functions of these cues during the contextualisation of content and relational intent and the creation of interactional coherence in IM

Text-based Computer-mediated Discourse Analysis: What Causes an Online Group to Become a Virtual Community?

The present study seeks to explore how computer-mediated discourse analysis can be useful for the study of online interaction, in particular, text-based multiparty interaction. The data are from the text-based chat group of high school English language teachers in China, which consists of more than one thousand members. Because of the fluid membership, reduced social accountability, and lack of shared geographical space, it seems that not every online group automatically becomes a “community”. Addressing this concern, and informed by the computer-mediated discourse analysis (CMDA) proposed by Herring, the researcher seeks to investigate the properties of virtual communities and to assess the extent to which they are realized by specific online groups

Language Learning in Computer-Mediated Collaborative Writing

This dissertation investigated the impact of computer-mediated collaborative writing on Chinese EFL learners' language learning and writing skills through examining both writing products and processes. The potential influence of dyadic type and language proficiency was also explored through quantitative and qualitative analyses. The study adapted a quasi-experimental pre- and post-test design and involved 135 non-native English speakers (NNES) and 45 native English speakers (NES). Participants completed two writing tasks online either with a partner or individually over six weeks. The pre- and post-tests were designed to examine whether the language and writing skill developments from computer-mediated collaboration transferred into individual writing. Through analyses of the gain scores on language complexity, accuracy, fluency and overall performance, the findings revealed that intermediate proficiency learners had higher improvements than advanced proficiency learners over time. Although statistically significant differences were observed on fluency and overall performance across groups, the results did not show influence of writing modes, language proficiency and dyadic types on accuracy and complexity. Language-related episodes (LRE), non-language-related episodes (NLRE), and uptakes in the text-chat logs and the collaborative writing texts were used to measure potential noticing and language learning. The analysis showed that the advanced NNES-NES dyads had a higher frequency of LREs, NLREs, and correct immediate and delayed uptakes. The in-depth qualitative analysis of nine selected dyads revealed that advanced learners were more engaged in interactions in both NNES-NES and NNES-NNES dyads. However, intermediate learners showed more learning incidents, higher motivation and more confidence in NNES-NNES dyads than in NES-NNES dyads. The perception survey indicated that the NNES participants had a positive attitude to computer-mediated collaborative writing. The advanced learners in the NNES-NES dyads had the highest percentage of reporting self-perceived improvements and confidence in English writing. The findings of this dissertation research indicate that computer-mediated collaborative writing is beneficial to Chinese EFL learners when they are actively engaged in interactions during the writing process. The study also confirmed that dyadic type and language proficiency affect learner's performance, with intermediate learners more likely to benefit from collaboration with NNESs and advanced learners more likely to benefit from collaboration with NESs

Contention of Meaning in WhatsApp Cultural Group : A Semantic Cognitive Analysis and Its Impact for The Law

The discourse of interpersonal communication in social media group contains of turn adjacency and simultaneous feedback of communication. Especially in WhatsApp group, the model of communication constructs a discourse by using a certain ideological mode through linguistic features. The communication model in the WhatsApp group involves participants directly, so that it is analyzed through mental and cognition with the semantic aspects that participants use. This study aims to reveal the contention of meaning in WhatsApp group by using cognitive semantic analysis. Cognitive semantic analysis is used to examine social cognition that affects contention of meaning among participants in the group. Contention of meaning in WhatsApp group communication is analyzed in three aspects; (1) the underlying social cognition, (2) the scheme of meaning in the group, and (3) the effects of the interaction scheme. The identification of semantic elements in interpersonal communication is based on microstructure analysis of van Dijk’s model i.e., linguistic features, such as background, coherence, detail, lexicon, pronominal, and graphic elements. Based on the research findings, the dominant aspect of social cognition that underlying participants in WhatsApp group communication are knowledges, attitudes, opinions, and concerns of the group members. The contention scheme of meaning in groups produces a discourse interaction model that tends to overlap and be structured. Effects that arose from the contention of meaning is ideological dominative groups and spread of knowledge on the topic of debate on all members of the group. This study reinforces the necessity of ideological construction through the contention of meaning in cognitive semantic studies and critical discourse especially in computer-mediated discourse analysis

Oral conversations online: redefining oral competence in synchronous environments

In this article the focus is on methodology for analysing learner-learner oral conversations mediated by computers. With the increasing availability of synchronous voice-based groupware and the additional facilities offered by audio-graphic tools, language learners have opportunities for collaborating on oral tasks, supported by visual and textual stimuli via computer-conferencing. Used synchronously with real-time voice-based work, these tools present learners with the challenge of learning a new type of oral interaction, and researchers with the need for developing methodologies for redefining L2 oral competence in these environments. In this paper we address the latter. We examine approaches from the interactionist branch of Second Language Acquisition research, and we question the ability of this model of language learning to fully account for the processes that take place when learners are interacting with machines while talking to each other. To complement the socio-cognitive insights of that school, we look to interactional linguistics and to social semiotics. Building on findings from these fields, we offer a qualitative discussion of the discourses evidenced in conversational data from two distance-learning projects that use synchronous voice in conjunction with other stimuli, in an intermediate French programme at the UK Open University. We then present detailed conclusions about the methodological challenges involved in analysing the oral competence of students who use these tools

Analysing technological affordances of online interactions using conversation analysis

The use of conversation analysis (CA) as a method for analysing the interactional practices of online communication has been growing in recent years (Giles et al., 2015). A key challenge for analysing online communication is the varied platforms through which interaction can occur. This paper demonstrates how using CA and the concept of affordances (Hutchby, 2001) can provide a lens through which to analyse not only the interaction, but also the technological context of that interaction. A corpus of instant messaging chats, captured from Facebook chat using screen-capture software, is used as a case study to demonstrate how the concept of affordances can be used alongside CA analysis to address the role of technology in the interaction. Two key interactional practices – turn adjacency and openings – are analysed to show the insights that CA can offer for providing an in-depth analysis of online interaction. By using affordances as a lens through which CA analysis can be refracted, scholars using ‘digital CA’ can better develop an understanding of patterns of interaction across different interactional platforms

Cultures-of-use and morphologies of communicative action

In this article I revisit the cultures-of-use conceptual framework-that technologies, as forms and processes comprising human culture, mediate and assume variable meanings, values, and conventionalized functions for different communities (Thorne, 2003). I trace the antecedent arc of investigation and serendipitous encounters that led to the 2003 publication and conclude by proposing that digital environments and the human experience of activity form unified ecologies with agency distributed through the system

Cultures-of-Use and Morphologies of Communicative Action

In this article I revisit the cultures-of-use conceptual framework-that technologies, as forms and processes comprising human culture, mediate and assume variable meanings, values, and conventionalized functions for different communities (Thorne, 2003). I trace the antecedent arc of investigation and serendipitous encounters that led to the 2003 publication and conclude by proposing that digital environments and the human experience of activity form unified ecologies with agency distributed through the system

Turn-Taking and the Local Management of Conversation in a Highly Simultaneous Computer-Mediated Communication System

Ongoing inquiry in communication technology research includes the questions of whether and how users adapt communication to the relatively restricted codes provided by text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC). This study proposes that adaptations may be affected by the level of simultaneity in messaging that CMC systems afford users. This suggestion is examined through an analysis of the particular conversational management strategies afforded by a fully synchronous computer-mediated communication system in which message transmission is keystroke-by-keystroke. Conversation analyses performed on the transcript of a three-person online conversation suggest several conclusions: Despite the novelty of the system, the CMC users appropriated and adapted many techniques from face-to-face conversations for the local management of conversations, including turn taking, turn allocation, and explicit interruption management. At the time, turn exchange was accomplished by the use of overlapping intermittent talk followed by lengthy strategic pauses, rather than according to the “no gap, no overlap” ideal of spoken conversation. Overall, the computer-mediated exchanges appeared resilient to modality change, and users spontaneously and creatively employed both traditional and technical features of conversation management