Computer-mediated communication and conversation analysis

An increasing number of researchers use conversation analysis (CA) methodology to investigate interactional dimensions of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and their impact on language and learning. While there is a significant body of CA research focusing on naturally occurring telephone and face-to-face conversation, researchers’ attention since the late 1990s has shifted to new contexts where communication between human beings is mediated by computers. This chapter is focused on CA research in the educational sphere, where participants are using an additional or a foreign language. CA research on human interaction developed robust analytical tools to identify and understand the unique interactional resources which are available to users in technologically mediated contexts. In particular, researchers are able to draw on previous CA research on face-to-face and telephone interaction to explore affordances and constraints of new technologies for learning, and how users use language to adapt to new and evolving interactional contexts. This chapter will therefore provide a brief overview of early CMC and CA research on technologically mediated interaction. Following this overview, major contributions where CA is systematically applied to computer-mediated talk will be presented, focusing specifically on findings related to language and interaction in L2 educational settings

How to present more readable text for people with dyslexia

The presentation of a text has a significant effect on the reading speed of people with dyslexia. This paper presents a set of recommendations to customize texts on a computer screen in a more accessible way for this target group. This set is based on an eye tracking study with 92 people, 46 with dyslexia and 46 as control group, where the reading performance of the participants was measured . The following parameters were studied: color combinations for the font and the screen background, font size, column width as well as character, line and paragraph spacings. It was found that larger text and larger character spacings lead the participants with and without dyslexia to read significantly faster . The study is complemented with questionnaires to obtain the participants’ preferences for each of these parameters, finding other significant effects. These results provide evidence that people with dyslexia may benefit from specific text presentation parameters that make text on a screen more readable. So far, these recommendations based on eye tracking data are the most complete for people with dyslexia