x, 89 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / The primary purpose of this study is to investigate whether the use of textual Synchronous Computer Mediated Communication (SCMC) can help students improve oral language proficiency when compared with a group of students who engage in face-to-face oral and written practice. A second objective is to investigate how the use of synchronous computer mediated written practice motivates and enhances the students' learning of the language. The participants ( N =56) were 9 th and 10 th grade English-speaking students enrolled in a beginning Spanish class. A paired sample t test was conducted to evaluate whether SCM written exchanges or face-to-face written practice influence language production. The results indicated that the mean language production for CMC written exchanges ( M = 1.79, SD = .833) was significantly greater than the mean language production for face-to-face written exchanges ( M = 1.11, SD = .737, p = .002). Qualitative results suggests that engaging learners in authentic interaction with other students of slightly higher language proficiency through the use of textual synchronous technology enhances their language skills as well as their overall learning experience. / Committee in charge: Kathleen Scalise, Chairperson, Educational Leadership; Philip McCullum, Member, Educational Leadership; Paul Yovanoff, Member, Educational Leadership; Robert Davis, Outside Member, Romance Languages

A homossexualidade feminina tem, na atualidade, maior visibilidade nos espaços midiáticos num processo indicativo de mudanças acerca do tema que emerge da intimidade para o debate na esfera pública. Esse processo mobiliza questionamentos na sociedade sobre normalidade e anormalidade das orientações sexuais bem como de suas representações sociais. Verificar, compreender e examinar como as lésbicas utilizam a comunicação mediada por computador é o objetivo deste trabalho que se detém na análise das narrativas para avaliar a interação comunicacional, as redes de socialidade e solidariedade e a afirmação identitária. Neste percurso são vistos a atuação individual e do movimento lésbico por mudanças nos direitos de cidadania dentro da esfera pública virtual: o ciberespaço. / The visibility of woman homossexuality on media space indicates a changing process about this theme on public shpere. This fact sets questions about normality and abnormality of sexual orientations and also about the lesbians' social representations. Verifying ,understanding and examine how those women use the computer-mediated communication is the purpose of this study. Narrative analyses are the method used to evaluate the communicational interaction, the lesbian identity and the lesbian movement actions in the changing process citizenship in the virtual public shpere: the cyberspace.

abstract: The present study focused on those who had recently been involved in a romantic relationship that ended in a breakup. Data was collected from 326 participants using an online questionnaire. Participants were asked questions about goal linking, rumination, self-efficacy, Facebook ORI behaviors, and emotional response questions. The results indicated that there were two types of Facebook ORI behaviors: explicit and covert. Explicit ORI was predicted by self-efficacy among those whose partner ended the relationship, as well as goal linking when the breakup was self-initiated. Covert ORI was predicted by rumination across all levels of breakup initiator (self, partner, or mutual). Moreover, only general negative emotions predicted Covert ORI, but general negative emotion and positive emotion predicted Explicit ORI. Finally, the results showed that those who were broken up with engaged in more Covert ORI behaviors than those who ended the relationship themselves or who mutually ended the relationship. These results suggest that Relational Goal Pursuit theory, which is commonly used to explain ORI behavior, be reconceptualized. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Communication Studies 2014

The Internet is in many cases our primary source for communication. As more communicative options online are introduced and become a part of our life, the language of the Internet, so called Netspeak, becomes a part of our language. The aim of this paper was to find out whether there is a difference in the use of Netspeak between teenagers and adults. The investigation was based on two message boards, one where the majority is teenagers and one where the majority is adults. Four different features of Netspeak were studied: exaggerated use of punctuation; exaggerated use of capital letters; abbreviations; and emoticons. All features are substitutes for paralanguage. The results show that teenagers are more likely to use features such as exaggerated use of punctuation and capitals, and abbreviations. Adults are, however, more likely to use emoticons than teenagers.

A homossexualidade feminina tem, na atualidade, maior visibilidade nos espaços midiáticos num processo indicativo de mudanças acerca do tema que emerge da intimidade para o debate na esfera pública. Esse processo mobiliza questionamentos na sociedade sobre normalidade e anormalidade das orientações sexuais bem como de suas representações sociais. Verificar, compreender e examinar como as lésbicas utilizam a comunicação mediada por computador é o objetivo deste trabalho que se detém na análise das narrativas para avaliar a interação comunicacional, as redes de socialidade e solidariedade e a afirmação identitária. Neste percurso são vistos a atuação individual e do movimento lésbico por mudanças nos direitos de cidadania dentro da esfera pública virtual: o ciberespaço. / The visibility of woman homossexuality on media space indicates a changing process about this theme on public shpere. This fact sets questions about normality and abnormality of sexual orientations and also about the lesbians' social representations. Verifying ,understanding and examine how those women use the computer-mediated communication is the purpose of this study. Narrative analyses are the method used to evaluate the communicational interaction, the lesbian identity and the lesbian movement actions in the changing process citizenship in the virtual public shpere: the cyberspace.

The aim of this essay was to examine chat communication in the World of Warcraft on-line interactive game in order to place the chat on the formal/informal continuum using speech and writing as extremes, as well as to examine the linguistic context of the chat situation within a broadly Hallidayian perspective and tenor of the participants. A corpus of 3675 words was gathered from the game on the realm or game server of Bloodfeather. The data was analysed by counting the frequency of a few selected linguistic features and compared with examples of speech and writing. The research showed that the chat in World of Warcraft was highly informal and would on the continuum be placed as more informal than the speech extract used for comparison. The results also indicated that context plays a small role in shaping the chat conversation and that tenor have close to no significance at all.

The aim of this essay is to determine where on a continuum between speech and writingwritten computer-mediated communication (chat language) would be placed. The essay makes use of a methodology based on Biber (1988). This was done using a quantitative research methodology based on counting and comparing specific linguistic features in different texts. The data for chat language came from the NPS Chat Corpus. Other data used were transcripts of spoken discourse as well as a popular scientific text as material for comparison. This essay is mainly focused on four features: the use of pronouns, passives, ellipsis and the type/token ration of each individual text. Despite the limited size of the material sampled, the results showed that chat language had more in common overall with speech than with writing.

This essay investigates cases of Swedish-English code-switching in a bilingual discussion forum on the Internet. Code-switching is a linguistic term used to describe switches from one language to another in discourse. The material consists of excerpts from the forum which have been analyzed and presents various cases of code-switching which appeared in the forum. The examples from the forum presented in this essay are chosen due to their relevance to code-switching and bilingualism. The examples were analyzed according to Romaine’s (1989) and Klintborg’s (1999) classifications of code-switching. The research questions sought to find out if, how and why the bilingual users in this forum code-switch when communicating. The results proved that the bilingual users do code-switch, and that the most common switch is the insertion of one word, or several words, in another language into an otherwise monolingual sentence. The discussion part also consists of a summary of the switches in the forum. The conclusion of the study is that code-switching does exist in this forum, and the participants code-switch in different ways, however mainly to show hospitality and to signal a belonging to the group.

Abstract This thesis is an interdisciplinary study on how students and teachers as participants in computer-supported language learning make meaning to their activities. The analysis moves gradually from a more general discussion of participant activity and interaction in computer-supported environments to a domain-specific discussion of language learning and work. The main body of data for the study comes from three different university language courses. The last empirical study introduces a complementary data set from working life. The thesis grounds its arguments on a discourse perspective of meaning. Rather than considering meaning as a property of a text or discourse, meaning is seen to reside in the active efforts of the participants of a social situation. In the particular case of computer-supported learning, a multiplicity of modes has to be taken into consideration. Language, in the sense of words, is a partial bearer of meaning only. The theoretical framework advances from a discussion of computer-supported learning as a hybrid form of interaction to a discussion of situated perspectives and computer-supported learning. The research approach applies multiple perspectives due to the multimodal and polycontextual nature of computer-supported learning. Special emphasis is laid on reaching the participant perspective. The findings highlight the multidimensional and polycontextual character of participation in computer-supported learning. The resources that the participants use for meaning-making reach beyond the textual interaction in the learning platform. Furthermore, the participants have multiple ways of taking part in the educational activities. The context that the participants produce for their actions exceeds the limits of the learning platform and ties the activity to the surrounding world in many ways.

Syftet med den här undersökningen är att få en bättre förståelse gällande den föredragna kommunikationskanalen och om den ändras beroende på vilken position inom organisationen som personen för tillfället har. Vi lever i en värld där både det arbetsrelaterade livet och privatlivet till stor del beror på möjligheten att hålla sig uppdaterad angående situationer som sker över hela världen samt med sina kamrater med hjälp av olika IT-lösningar. Tidigare forskning visar att en majoritet av forskningsgrupperna föredrar kommunikation ansikte mot ansikte. Den här undersökningen bestod av intervjuer med individer på olika positioner i företagsstegen för att se vad de hade för åsikter kring ämnet. Respondenterna representerade båda könen, i varierande ålder och har varit anställda mellan ett till tio år i organisationen. Resultaten av undersökningen skiljde sig från tidigare forskning då merparten av respondenterna var positiva till skriftlig kommunikation (mail). / The purpose of this research is to better understand if the prefered way of communication differs depending on which organizational position the person currently holds. Since we are now living in a world where both work related life and private life to a greater scale depends on the ability to keep yourself updated with both the situation worldwide and communication with your peers with the help of different IT solutions. Earlier research results show that a majority of research groups prefers face to face communication. This research used interviews with people on different steps of the corporate ladder to find out what their standing were on the subject. The respondents where both male and female, in varying age and had been employed from one to ten years in the organization. The results found in this research were not equivalent with the earlier research since our results found that almost all respondents were pro written communication (e-mail).