Electronic Discourse

Investigates the new world of computer conferencing and details how writers use language when their social interaction is exclusively enacted through text on screens.

With the advent of new media and Web 2.0 technologies, language and discourse have taken on new meaning, and the implications of this evolution on the nature of interpersonal communication must be addressed. Innovative Methods and Technologies for Electronic Discourse Analysis highlights research, applications, frameworks, and theories of online communication to explore recent advances in the manipulation and shaping of meaning in electronic discourse. This essential research collection will appeal to academic, research, and professional audiences engaged in the design, development, and distribution of effective communications technologies in educational, social, and linguistic contexts.

New technologies are constantly transforming traditional notions of language use and literacy in online communication environments. While previous research has provided a foundation for understanding the use of new technologies in instructed second language environments, few studies have investigated new literacies and electronic discourse beyond the classroom setting. This volume seeks to address this gap by providing corpus-based and empirical studies of electronic discourse analyzing social and linguistic variation as well as communicative practices in chat, discussion forums, blogs, and podcasts. Several chapters also examine the assessment and integration of new literacies. This volume will serve as a valuable resource for researchers, teachers, and students interested in exploring electronic discourse and new literacies in language learning and teaching.

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Other, grade: 1,3 (A), University of Münster (English Seminar), course: Didactics Advanced Seminar, language: English, abstract: [...] In our introduction, we first want to draw on the field of educational MOOs. The upcoming of personal computers, it’s speedy with more advancing progress up to this date and the easy accessibility at home or in educational institutions such as schools and universities. Language Classes in universities for example, have already led the 1980s to an ever increasing awareness that there is an almost unsustainable and enormously large potential in its use for classroom purposes and other activities. Although manifold, in the focus of our interest (for we are dealing with EFL learning in our seminar) we measured L2 acquisition and the learnability of a Foreign Language with the help of a computer program. We will thus narrow down several possible choices we could make relating to teaching/learning software and choose one of them. The program that we will thoroughly discuss in the next few chapters is one that already, from a technological standpoint, has a long history. We must look back to 1979 when the first virtual MUD (Multi-User Dungeon or Multi-User Domain), the predecessor of the MOO (Multi-User Domain, Object-Oriented) comes into play. MUDs do not crucially differ from MOOs, as becomes evident in their being virtually the same program based on a similar code, the MOO, however, evolved from the MUD as a more advanced version sporting some more additional and useful features and making it therefore better to use for classroom purposes.1 First of all, what is a/the MOO? The MOO is a publicly accessible database, available and accessible from anywhere on the world via network systems like, most popular, the Internet. Users must log on to a server in order to gain access. Some of this works via telnet or clients include MacMOOSE, Pueblo or encore Xpress. Curtis and Nichols say that MOOs are “frequently referred to as text-based virtual realities” (own italics, K.M, D.B) (TBVRs)2, because they are based on unformatted text, rather than a colourful user graphic interface (UGI). The term object-oriented, hidden in MOO, means MOO players can add new spaces in the form of rooms or other objects to the classroom. 1 To provide the reader with a complete history on MUD/MOO environments would by far exceed the length of this paper. For a complete history, see Holmevik, Jan Rune; Haynes, Cynthia: MOOniversity:a student ́s guide to online learning environments. 2000. p. 1 ff. 2 Curtis/Nichols 1993: n.p.

New technologies are constantly transforming traditional notions of language use and literacy in online communication environments. While previous research has provided a foundation for understanding the use of new technologies in instructed second language environments, few studies have investigated new literacies and electronic discourse beyond the classroom setting. This volume seeks to address this gap by providing corpus-based and empirical studies of electronic discourse analyzing social and linguistic variation as well as communicative practices in chat, discussion forums, blogs, and podcasts. Several chapters also examine the assessment and integration of new literacies. This volume will serve as a valuable resource for researchers, teachers, and students interested in exploring electronic discourse and new literacies in language learning and teaching.

Underserved Communities and Digital Discourse: Getting Voices Heard presents a series of case studies which evaluate the elevation and suppression of voices within marginalized and minority communities. It examines the use of digital media and its role in the construction of reality—specifically who is included, who is left out, and who feels they must remain silent. Through both quantitative and qualitative measures, this book discusses digital discourse in terms of ethnic media, political communication, ethics, crisis communication, myth, and health frameworks.

This new edition of Introduction to Discourse Studies (IDS) is a thoroughly revised and updated version of this successful textbook, which has been published in four languages and has become a must-read for anyone interested in the analysis of texts and discourses. Supported by an international advisory board of 14 leading experts, it deals with all main subdomains in discourse studies, from pragmatics to cognitive linguistics, from critical discourse analysis to stylistics, and many more. The book approaches major issues in this field from the Anglo-American and European as well as the Asian traditions. It provides an ‘academic toolkit’ for future courses on discourse studies and serves as a stepping stone to the independent study of professional literature. The chapters are subdivided in modular sections that can be studied separately. The pedagogical objectives are further supported by over 500 index entries covering frequently used concepts that are accurately defined with examples throughout the text; more than 150 test-yourself questions, all elaborately answered, which are ideal for self-study; nearly 100 assignments that provide ample material for lecturers to focus on specific topics in their courses. Jan Renkema is Emeritus Professor of Discourse Quality at the Department of Communication and Information Sciences at Tilburg University, The Netherlands. He is also editor of Discourse, of Course (2009) and author of The Texture of Discourse (2009). In 2009, a Chinese edition of Introduction to Discourse Studies was published by Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Christoph Schubert is Full Professor of English Linguistics at Vechta University, Germany. He is author of an Introduction to English text linguistics (2nd ed. 2012) and co-editor of Pragmatic Perspectives on Postcolonial Discourse (2016) and Variational Text Linguistics (2016).

Though humans have been communicating through virtual mediators since the invention of the telephone, new technologies make the use of virtual communications even more immediate and pervasive than ever before. By understanding the theories and models behind virtual communication, one can understand the way society has been changed and how it will continue to do so. Analyzing Digital Discourse and Human Behavior in Modern Virtual Environments examines the implications of virtual communication and online interaction and the theories and trends associated with them. It will discuss and address the differences and challenges that develop when communicating virtually and explore the various influences virtual communication plays in work, education, and quotidian life. This title provides a foundation of emerging trends from which new theories and models of communication can grow. This book will become a cherished resource for academics, researchers, technology developers, students, and government or institutional leaders.