Potential Of Computer-mediated Communication Research Articles

Polish teenage students’ willingness to engage in on-line intercultural interactions

Computer-based technologies, including various forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC), provide L2 users with opportunities to engage in intercultural interactions which may promote the development of their intercultural communicative competence. The article reports the findings of a study that investigated how beyond-the-classroom involvement in CMC stimulated Polish teenage EFL learners’ interest in other cultures, their openness to intercultural experience and their willingness to take part in intercultural interactions, all of which are initial steps in the process of developing intercultural competence. The results indicate high levels of interest in other cultures, a strong motivation to take part in intercultural online exchanges in English and also point to the great potential of CMC as a tool for broadening the intercultural perspectives of L2 learners. The teaching implications of the study include the need to prepare learners for Internet-based intercultural beyond-the-classroom experience through classroom-based tasks and strategy training.

Toward a broader understanding of social talk in Web-based courses

AbstractThe interactive potential of computer-mediated communication has proved more difficult to realize than expected. This study tries to break away from the normative status of speech underlining computer-mediated communication by asking how social talk is manifested in Web-based learning environments. The asynchronous communication of 55 students during a study period of 18 weeks was examined using mediated discourse analysis. The students were training as pre-school teachers in a four-year program. Their ability to create a group culture seemed significant for how they developed group autonomy and were able to handle unexpected incidents or a loose framing. The communication between the students was in narrative format and was lengthy in character; trust and confidence were dropped off as part of a constant construction of group culture. These students did not adopt or develop known means of compensating for the loss of nonverbal clues. There were indications of sharing private concerns and information from other practices in life as a conditional aspect of participation. When having troubles to cope, it was the youngest students who failed.

Conversation Analysis of Computer-Mediated Communication

The potential of computer-mediated communication (CMC) for language learning resides mainly in the possibility that learners have to engage with other speakers of the language, including L1 speakers. The inclusion of CMC in the L2 classroom provides an opportunity for students to utilize authentic language in real interaction, rather than the more traditional institutionally asymmetric, nonnegotiable, and teacher controlled classroom discourse. However, still much research is needed addressing what happens during CMC interaction and the effectiveness of this tool for language learning. This article explores the potential of conversation analysis (CA) to contribute to the understanding of L2 CMC. It presents previous CA research on synchronous CMC (SCMC) and L2 interaction, and, as an illustration of how CA can be employed for the study of CMC, a longitudinal case study of a Spanish L2 learner engaged in interaction with a L1 Spanish speaker is microanalyzed using CA. Finally, the article outlines the strengths of CA for the analysis of CMC and identifies the limitations of the method both for the study of CMC as well as for language learning in general and provides future possible lines of research.

CMC in language teacher education: learning with and through instructional conversations

As the popularity of computer mediated communication (CMC) in language teaching continues to grow, questions regarding best practices arise. Whereas a number of recent studies have examined the online discourse of language learners, few have explored the potential of online instructional conversations for language teacher education. This paper discusses CMC as a venue where language teachers in development can explore instructional conversations while they are actively guided via models, practice, and analysis to understand and make good use of the affordances of CMC (Meskill and Anthony 2007a,b). Samples from online professional development for language educators illustrate the potential of CMC in serving teacher learning. The power and diversity of CMC to support development of language educators is presented via uses in (1) modeling online instructional conversations; (2) analyzing online instructional conversations; (3) experimenting with instructional conversations in blended environments; (4) as a practicum laboratory; and in (5) promoting ongoing professional engagement.

The Potential of Computer-Mediated Communication (Cmc) for Political Structuration

An argument is presented here for a political structuration approach for the study of digital democracy. This argument attempts to demonstrate that political structuration can occur as users of CMC construct new forms of political interaction that produce new rules and resources for political communication. While such changes appear to occur mainly at micro levels of interaction, their cumulative effects are argued to be capable of initiating significant changes in social systems. When engaged in political structuration, citizens are more likely to increase their political efficacy as well as their active role in a democratic system. While researchers have not yet found any substantial causal links yet between CMC and political participation, it is theoretically possible to encourage such links by showing how specific political uses of communication technology can facilitate political agency.

Computer-Mediated Communication as a Channel for Social Resistance

In two studies, the authors tested predictions derived from the social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE) concerning the potential of computer-mediated communication (CMC) to serve as a means to resist powerful out-groups. Earlier research using the SIDE model indicates that the anonymity of virtual groups can accentuate the power differentials associated with salient social identities: a cognitive effect. The present research builds on the strategic component of the SIDE model to show that CMC can also provide a channel of social support fostering resistance. In Study 1, students were more likely to express opinions normative for their group but punishable by the out-group (faculty) when CMC was available, independent of mutual anonymity. In Study 2, the authors directly manipulated the proposed mediator, social support within CMC, and showed increased willingness to express normative attitudes against out-group interests as a function of support. These studies reveal the importance of CMC as a medium for communicating and coordinating the social support central to collective action.