Interaction, particularly learner-learner interaction, needs to be cultivated in online classes in order for students to have a satisfying learning experience. This study considered two graduate level online classes in an effort to determine: 1) is cognitive style related to the quantity of learner-learner interaction in online courses, 2) is there a relationship between learner characteristics and learner posting preferences in learner-learner interaction in online courses, 3) how do selected learners differ in their use of interaction elements during online discussion, and 4) how do selected learners perceive their experiences in online courses. Using the Student Demographic Questionnaire, the Group Embedded Figures Test, the Text Analysis Tool, and an Interview Protocol developed by the researcher, the study was conducted with a mixed method design. Learner-learner interaction was considered in terms of the students' contributions to the FirstClass discussion activities that were completed as part of the course requirements. This study found that: a) there is not a correlation between cognitive style and quantity of learner-learner interaction, b) some learner characteristics do influence learner posting preferences, c) interaction elements during online discussion do not indicate the content of discussion, but do somewhat indicate how the discussion is taking place, and d) students have opinions on how their experiences in online courses should impact online course design, particularly in terms of knowing the learner and communication. Knowing the learner was discussed in terms of time management, motivation, and differences among learners. Communication was discussed in terms of spontaneity, isolation, freedom, and accountability. Course design was discussed in terms of flexibility, organization, accountability, and technology. The results of this study have implications regarding online course design and recommendations for future research.

This study investigated how EFL learners managed their real time interaction in a computer-mediated communication (CMC) environment called Schmooze University MOO. Fourteen undergraduates enrolled at two universities in Tokyo took part in weekly text chat sessions over a semester. Four task types were implemented; information-gap, jigsaw, decision-making and opinion-exchange. Qualitative data such as transcripts, field notes and questionnaires were analyzed within the framework of a case study. Findings indicated that the subjects actively managed their interaction, monitored their linguistic output, supported each other and exercised autonomy. Analysis of the transcripts revealed that the subjects consistently produced coherent target language output focused on the tasks, while at the same time, overcoming the challenge of communicating effectively in a new online environment. They achieved this considerable feat in part, by utilizing features of the environment designed to facilitate interaction. Moreover, they utilized a mix of transactional and interactional discourse management strategies that have been identified in the literature on native speaker interaction in real time CMC. Transactional strategies identified in the data were addressivity, time saving and feedback. Interactional strategies were the use of pseudonyms, positive and negative politeness, greetings, leave-takings and off-task discussion. These strategies enabled the subjects to track turns, provide feedback and build the social cohesion necessary for sustained communication in online environments. The analysis showed that as the project progressed, the subjects utilized a greater number and wider range of strategies than in the earlier sessions. The majority of these appeared the result of transfer from conventional forms of communication. However, others were adaptive and appropriate to the online nature of the interaction. These strategies that have not been reported in the literature on learner-learner interaction in CMC, were use of the to command, split turns, suspension dots, quotation and omission. The appearance of these medium induced strategies highlights the subjectsʼ increasingly sophisticated and successful attempts to deal with real time computer-based nature of the interaction. Analysis of the data further revealed that when communication problems arose the subjects overcome them by utilizing communication strategies involved in negotiation of meaning. The most frequent strategies identified in the data were definition and clarification requests followed by self-, other-initiated correction and non-response. The subjects also made limited use of confirmation and comprehension checks. These strategies were more frequent in the jigsaw tasks than in the other task types. The data showed that learner-learner negotiation in this type of CMC broadly follows the model proposed for face-to-face interaction in conventional classrooms. However, analysis indicated that the interplay of proficiency levels, task, the computer-based nature of the interaction and sociocultural concerns appeared to influence the frequency of negotiation.

Distance learning began as a means of catering to students who needed to learn in isolated, individual learning environments but, more recently, has been evolving to offer an interactive and collaborative learning environment supported by Computer Mediated Communication (CMC). However, research has found that not all online discussions are productive for learning and that simply making discussions boards accessible to students does not achieve the interactive and collaborative experience for which they are promoted. One of the first requirements needed for successful online discussions is student participation. This study sought to identify what encourages student participation in online discussions. Motivation and social presence were investigated in this study because they have been identified as two concepts that assist in the encouragement of student participation. Motivation assists participation because it is the process whereby goal-directed activity is both instigated and sustained, and social presence because it has been found to increase interaction. This study sought information regarding what motivated or demotivated student participation in online discussions and what Social Presence behaviours students found most important for maintaining their desire to participate in online discussions. It also investigated relationships among, and changes in, student state motivation, student sense of social presence and student perceived sources of motivation and demotivation across the course of a semester. Finally, students' opinion about their motivation, sense of social presence and reasons for participation were investigated through open-ended questions. A Sequential Exploratory design was used to first obtain breadth of data (quantitative) through online surveys (n equals 60 participants). This included a test/retest design. Depth of the data (qualitative) was then explored through interviews that were based on the results of the quantitative data analysis (n equals 14 participants). The main findings of this study were that students' sense of social presence changed significantly across the course of the semester and this change was a decrease in sense of social presence for 50 percent of the students. Context and Social factors were mentioned more frequently as both motivators and demotivators for participation than Structure/format factors. Correlations revealed a significant relationship between state motivation and social presence. Finally, open-ended questions generated a number of major themes that help to promote participation. All of these findings have implications for teachers and designers of online courses. They show that many factors influence student participation and that some of these factors may change over the course of a semester. Teachers and designers should use this information when designing and implementing courses to not only initiate student participation, but also to maintain participation throughout the course.

[Abstract]: This study investigates the contribution of asynchronous, online discussion forums to student learning in an Australian, online postgraduate course. The study of online forums is an emerging field of research and therefore calls for a methodology suited to the context where knowledge and application is still at the exploration stage. Grounded theory – an open, qualitative methodology – was chosen as an appropriate method to explore the nature of the interaction in the online forums.The grounded theory analysis of the data revealed that participant interaction did generate instructional design knowledge across a range of conceptual levels. The study also showed that interaction was effectively facilitated through the use of asynchronous text-based forums, and that participants used the online interaction to build a learning community and to generate knowledge within the learning community. These findings, although from a small case study, help to justify the widespread use of discussion forums in higher education.The research findings revealed that participant interaction was a key component that enabled the teachers and learners to build and participate in an online learning community. The subcategories that emerged from participant interaction – teaching role, building a learning community and generating knowledge – were all contributing categories to the core category: interaction as a facilitator of learning. Research revealed that the teacher had an important role in managing and facilitating the interactive online learning environment, through both design and implementation of the course. The teaching role was complex and integral in the building of a learning community and facilitating knowledge generation.One outcome of particular interest for online researchers is that most of the categories that emerged from the data in this study strongly correlated to the categories in the Interaction Analysis Model (IAM); as well as categories identified by the Canadian Institute of Distance Education Research (CIDER), the research arm of the Centre for Distance Education at Athabasca University. The grounded theory approach in this study generated similar categories to CIDER and IAM, despite the research being conducted without any reference to categories existing in the literature. The correlation between the CIDER, IAM and my categories provides credibility to each set of research outcomes. Also, it can be argued that the correlation between findings of independently conducted research studies means that these categories can be more confidently generalised to other online contexts. While the CIDER categories are now being applied in a number of empirical studies, I suggest that further research in a range of contexts is required to confirm whether these are “the” important variables in online interaction.The grounded theory approach generated categories unique to this research and provided a framework for the design and implementation of interactive online learning. From these findings, the literature, and personal experience, recommendations are presented in regard to design principles, a design framework, and implementation strategies and tactics. The implications of online learning for institutional policy and practice are outlined, and a reflection on the online teaching role is presented – one that challenges some existing conceptions of a diminished role for online teachers. The debate surrounding the role of teaching in learning-centred pedagogy is an important discussion for higher education.

Computer-mediated collaboration is an important feature of modern organisational and educational settings. Despite its ever increasing popularity, it is still commonly compared unfavourably with face-to-face collaboration because non-verbal and paralinguistic cues are minimal. Although research on face-to-face group collaboration is well documented, less is known about computer-mediated collaboration. The initial focus of this thesis was an in-depth analysis of a case study of a computer-mediated collaborative group. The case study was a large international group of volunteer researchers who collaborated on a two-year research project using asynchronous communication (email). This case study was a window on collaborative dialogue in the early 1990s (1992-94) at a time when information and communication technologies were at an early stage of development. After identifying the issues emerging from this early case study, another case study using technologies and virtual environments developed over the past decade, was designed to further understand how groups work together on a collaborative activity. The second case study was a small group of students enrolled in a unit of study at Murdoch University who collaborated on a series of nine online workshops using synchronous communication (chat room). This case study was a window on collaborative dialogue in the year 2000 when information and communication technologies had developed at a rate which few people envisioned in the early 90s. The primary aim of the research described in this thesis was to gain a better understanding of how computer-mediated collaborative communities develop and grow. In particular, the thesis addresses questions related to the developmental and leadership characteristics of collaborative groups. Internet research requires a set of assumptions relating to ontology, epistemology, human nature and methodological approach that differs from traditional research assumptions. A research framework for Internet research – Complementary Explorative Data Analysis (CEDA) – was therefore developed and applied to the two case studies. The results of the two case studies using the CEDA methodology indicate that computer-mediated collaborative groups are highly adaptive to the aim of the collaborative task to be completed, and the medium in which they collaborate. In the organisational setting, it has been found that virtual teams can devise and complete a collaborative task entirely online. It may be an advantage, but it is certainly not mandatory to have preliminary face-to-face discussions. What is more important is to ensure that time is allowed for an initial period of structuration which involves social interaction to develop a social presence and eventually cohesiveness. In the educational setting, a collaborative community increases pedagogical effectiveness. Providing collaborative projects and interdependent tasks promotes constructivist learning and a strong foundation for understanding how to collaborate in the global workplace. Again, this research has demonstrated that students can collaborate entirely online, although more pedagogical scaffolding may be required than in the organisational setting. The importance of initial social interaction to foster a sense of presence and community in a mediated environment has also been highlighted. This research also provided greater understanding of emergent leadership in computer-mediated collaborative groups. It was found that sheer volume of words does not make a leader but frequent messages with topic-related content does contribute to leadership qualities. The results described in this thesis have practical implications for managers of virtual teams and educators in e-learning.

The use of communication strategies (CSs) has been of interest on research into second language acquisition (SLA) since it can help learners to attain mutual comprehension effectively and develops understanding of interaction in SLA research. This study investigates and clarifies a wide range of CSs that learners of English and learners of Chinese use to solve language problems as well as to facilitate problem-free discourse in both text-based and video-based SCMC environments. Seven Chinese-speaking learners of English and seven English-speaking learners of Chinese were paired up as tandem (reciprocal) learning dyads in this study. Each dyad participated in four interactions, namely, text-based SCMC in English, text-based SCMC in Chinese, video-based SCMC in English and video-based SCMC in Chinese. The interaction data were analysed along with an after-task questionnaire and stimulated reflection to explore systematically and comprehensively the differences between text-based and video-based SCMC and differences between learners of English and learners of Chinese. The results showed that learners used CSs differently in text-based and video-based SCMC compared with their own performance and indicated different learning opportunities provided by these two modes of SCMC. Although the difference in language was less salient than the medium effect, learners of English and learners of Chinese tended to have their own preferences for particular CSs. When these preferences appear to reflect an appropriate communicative style in one particular culture, learners might need to raise their awareness of some strategies during intercultural communication to avoid possible misunderstanding or offence. Some possible advantages of tandem learning interaction were also identified in this study, such as the potential to develop sociocultural and intercultural competence due to the opportunity to practice culturally appropriate language use with native speakers in a social context.

There has been extensive literature on the subject of subcultures in the fields of criminology and sociology. The term has undergone decades upon decades of revisions and debate amongst scholars. Despite the vast amount of literature available on the term subculture, there is unfortunately no clear-cut definition of what a subculture is, especially after what many sociologists referred to as the Post-Subcultural Turn. While that is problematic in and of itself, the term subculture still has yet to be framed and understood in light of recent technological advancements and strides towards globalization. This thesis will attempt to shed light on the muddled conceptions of the term subculture, as well as expanding subcultural theory to include subcultural engagement in online settings. Chapter 1 will provide a chronological account of the term subculture, including many of its evolutions, revisions and interpretations based on different schools of thought. Chapter 2 will follow up by discussing many of the criticisms directed at past conceptualizations of subculture, and where the term subculture should be heading with regards to expanding its conceptualization without conflating it with other terms. Chapter 2 will finish by suggesting a new path towards conceptualization by adapting subculture to include how subcultures are being formed and maintained through the use of the Internet. To make sense of subcultures using social networking sites in future chapters, Chapter 3 will delve into some of the main technological developments of the Internet including computer-mediated communication, social networks, and how they function as virtual conduits for facilitating social interactions and the spread of knowledge. Chapter 4 will pick up from Chapter 3 by discussing deviance in online settings, as well as introducing a new Goffmanian approach to understanding the presentation of self in online settings. Lastly, Chapter 5 will seek to answer three main questions about subcultures and their existence in online settings: 1. How do social networking sites operate as virtual conduits for the presentation of self? 2. How do subculturalists use social networking sites to create a sense of online community and membership? 3. How do subculturalists employ presentation of self strategies? These questions will be answered by employing an adapted Goffmanian approach to the presentation of self in online settings while also rethinking the concept of subcultural style. Lastly, this thesis will seek to provide guidance on where gaps in the literature still exist and can be explored in the near future.

Magister Artium - MA / This study focuses on a story featured on Sowetan LIVE, one of South Africa’s online newspapers. The flexibility of the mode in which the newspaper is produced, enables users to comment on its articles as they are published. The online newspaper was preferred due to its socio-political history and the huge South African audience it seems to attract. This study looks at one particular story which appeared on Sowetan LIVE and generated much interest in South Africa. The story is about a painting depicting President Jacob Zuma with his genitals exposed, termed The Spear by Brett Murray. This painting triggered a high volume of comments and engagement among South Africans on the Sowetan LIVE website, making it a valuable resource of online discourse. Therefore, this study explored comments in response to the two articles published on the Sowetan LIVE namely, “ANC takes battle of The Spear to court” and “Will Zuma’s spear stay up?” which when combined, ‘generated’ 1358 comments. This study particularly investigates the identities that emerged from the discourses found in the data and analyses the type of linguistic practices evident in the comments. In this regard, the main objective of the study is not only to determine how users style their social identities, but also their ‘linguistic’ ones during online interactions. In terms of social identities, the findings illustrate a distinction between traditional and modern identities ‘represented’ by Jacob Zuma and Brett Murray, respectively. However, although a distinction is evident, contradictions exist among the respective identities which feed back into the notion of identity as performative and fluid. In this way, the study reveals that the identities emanating from these discourses provide a glance at South Africa’s intricate identity ‘battle’, a ‘battle’ which is no longer solely based on race or collective identity, but more on the creation of new identities and perceptions based on traditional ones or a complete divorce of traditional identities. With regards to linguistic identity, the findings indicate that hybrid linguistic practices are a norm among the participants. This is because all participants employ netspeak features such as phonetic spellings, letter / number homophones and creative use of punctuation / capitalisation for emphasis or stress. Interestingly, although netspeak is evident from the findings common in online linguistic practices, this study has found that the use of such features is not random. This is so because participants tend to strategically fuse these features into the linguistic practices as a means to avoid censorship. This fusion and, ultimately, censorship avoidance strategies, rely on the re-purposing of semiotic resources. In this vein, the most used censorship avoidance strategies in the study are discussed and analysed in terms of context and the discourses that inform them. Furthermore, upon analysing the usernames and avatars selected by participants as part of identity construction, the findings demonstrate that these are used as an extension of the participants’ identities. From the findings of the study, it can be concluded that the South African youth’s identity and their perception of identity itself is in flux – ‘norms’ are constantly being re-invented. In essence, this study adds to an understanding of how historical material is re-purposed through an exploration of an online interactive feature that is posting of comments on an article of interest. It also contributes to an understanding of the hybrid nature of online linguistic practices.

Magister Artium - MA / The last few decades have seen the development of a large body of scholarly work on drag queens and performances of femininity by men (see Barrett 1995, 1999). However, performances of masculinity by women have largely been overlooked. Research by scholars like Judith Halberstam (see Halberstam 1997, 1998) on female masculinity and the drag king performer has attempted to address this imbalance, but the phenomenon has yet to receive any attention from sociolinguists. This study aims to bring attention to performances of masculinity by women in the South African context through a multi-sited ethnography of the country’s first known drag king troupe, Bros B4 Ho's. The study will examine not only the group's stage performances, but also their activity on the online social networking platform of Facebook, using multimodal critical discourse analysis. The internet has revolutionised the way we communicate and share information, and has provided interesting new arenas for individuals to explore identity performance. In extending the investigation to include the group's online activity, the study will give a more complete picture of the negotiation of drag king subjectivities across different spaces.

Computers afford an environment in which use of communication tools can promote deep learning. This may be ascribed to the creation of a varied learning environment, and to the induction of active, collaborative and self-directed learning. A quantitative study was performed based on the results of a questionnaire developed to evaluate the students experience of web-supported learning. The association between presumed active use of communication tools, and perceptions concerning learning principles (varied and challenging learning environment, application of higher order thinking skills, and lecturer feedback and encouragement to interact frequently), was evaluated. The results indicate that in general, learners associated a varied and challenging learning environment with the lecturer’s feedback and encouragement to interact frequently (e.g. with discussions; e-mail contact etc.) and with perceived active communication via the bulletin board and e-mail facility. It appears that CMC using all communication tools, excluding the calendar, was dependent on encouragement by the lecturer to interact frequently. Perceived active use of e-mail and the chat facility was significantly associated with recognition of the need to apply higher-order thinking skills in order to do well in the course. These findings support previous reports that CMC promotes deep learning. It is recommended that · The e-mail facility is used for deeper problem analysis and where alternate solutions and strategies are to be generated. · The bulletin board is used for application, analysis, evaluation, and synthesis. · The chat facility is used to build attitudes, beliefs, confidence and motivation. · The challenge of an environment should be created in which communities of learners are formed. Opportunity should be provided for socialising as well, as this promotes interdependence and collaboration. · Feedback to individuals and groups and encouragement is provided timely and continually via e-mail and the bulletin board. / Dissertation (MEd (CIE))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted