Issues concerning communication, information technology and democracy are focused points of studies in politics, sociology and communication. In the past few decades, the Internet has changed the image and ecology of mass media. The Internet provides more opportunities than other media for individuals to participate in the public discourse. Many scholars have suggested that Internet¡¦s characteristics such as real-time, interactivity, openness, and equality may help balance the power and bias exerted by traditional mass media. In this research three Internet forums (board) in Taiwan were analyzed by adopting the content analysis to evaluate the quality of discourse based on the communicative act theory proposed by Habermas. Specifically, we investigate several issues: Is the online forum an open, equal public place? Do participants interact with one another? Do they reach rational-critical discussion within an environment lack of social context cues? Do those virtual debates lead to cohesion and influence the real-life political process? There are several findings. First, although online forums are more open than traditional media¡¦s, individuals without internet facilities and skills are excluded from participation. Even within the forums, participants are not totally free to join or speak due to the registration, written netiquette norms, and hierarchical control systems. Secondly, instead of equally joining the discussion, a small percentage of people contribute to a majority of discourse in two websites¡¦ forums. That is, although online forums provide an opportunity for democratic discourse, it does not mean that everyone subscribed to the online discussion will participate equally. Thirdly, it is possible for individuals to reach rational-critical discussion within a CMC environment, the virtual debates rarely lead to consensus, let alone influencing real-life policy-making. In sum, this study concludes that the Internet has not become an alternative to the traditional media as a public sphere.

Institutional transformation initiated the creation of an online forum by academic staff at the North- West University. This forum functioned as an official space on the intranet of the institution as a result of the need of academics to communicate their opinions and concerns. Participants in the forum judged the university and other co-discussants according to their ideals of a democratic, multiracial and self-reflective institution of higher learning. Debates which interested the broad academic community focused on the practice of religion, the student culture, hostel traditions and the language of instruction. The threads which dealt with these subjects were usually characterised by intense emotion and conflict as divergent racial and cultural identities constituted a pervasive presence in the discussions. The study explored the reasons, strategies and consequences of internal exclusion which participants exercised within the forum discourse and the external incidences of exclusion practised within the larger discursive contexts (institutional, socio-political) of the forum. The inclusive focus of the communicative model of democratic discourse on emotion as an expansion of reason determined the exploration of patterns of exclusion. The online discussion has been in existence for more than twelve years. The forum is not in the public domain and only administrative and academic staff within the institution has access to it. The asynchronous participations are authored and archived since 2004. Six discussants who acted as protagonists in the thread on racism were the main participants in the interviews. Five more participants were interviewed as their presence in, perceptions of and relationship with the forum and its participants were significant to the researcher and other discussants. Qualitative research methodology informed the critical phenomenological approach of the study. The researcher conducted interviews and analyses between August 2010 and July 2011. The methodology of grounded theory directed the coding of interview transcripts and the text of the forum thread. The research diary and reflective notes enabled the researcher to find synergy between the practical field experience and theory. The study found that strong ideological positions led to frustration with the idealised role participants contributed to the forum as a vehicle for change. These frustrations were incorporated in their rationalistic and moralistic strategies of interaction with participants holding equally strong but opposing positions. Eventually those who were motivated to participate because of their dissonance with discourse, within and outside the context of the forum, either excluded themselves or became excluded as their voices were not appreciated. They could also not persuade others or effect structural change. Participants with mediating presences brought an amiable nuance to the forum and influenced protagonists to assume less declarative styles of interaction and reflect on their own unemancipatory positions. Based on the inclusionary and exclusionary elements found in the analyses, the study concludes with recommendations for the design and moderation of an inclusive and equalising space. This redefined space could subverse the dominating discourse of protagonists and foster a democratic discourse within the context of the forum and the university. / Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Development Innovation and Evaluation))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Institutional transformation initiated the creation of an online forum by academic staff at the North- West University. This forum functioned as an official space on the intranet of the institution as a result of the need of academics to communicate their opinions and concerns. Participants in the forum judged the university and other co-discussants according to their ideals of a democratic, multiracial and self-reflective institution of higher learning. Debates which interested the broad academic community focused on the practice of religion, the student culture, hostel traditions and the language of instruction. The threads which dealt with these subjects were usually characterised by intense emotion and conflict as divergent racial and cultural identities constituted a pervasive presence in the discussions. The study explored the reasons, strategies and consequences of internal exclusion which participants exercised within the forum discourse and the external incidences of exclusion practised within the larger discursive contexts (institutional, socio-political) of the forum. The inclusive focus of the communicative model of democratic discourse on emotion as an expansion of reason determined the exploration of patterns of exclusion. The online discussion has been in existence for more than twelve years. The forum is not in the public domain and only administrative and academic staff within the institution has access to it. The asynchronous participations are authored and archived since 2004. Six discussants who acted as protagonists in the thread on racism were the main participants in the interviews. Five more participants were interviewed as their presence in, perceptions of and relationship with the forum and its participants were significant to the researcher and other discussants. Qualitative research methodology informed the critical phenomenological approach of the study. The researcher conducted interviews and analyses between August 2010 and July 2011. The methodology of grounded theory directed the coding of interview transcripts and the text of the forum thread. The research diary and reflective notes enabled the researcher to find synergy between the practical field experience and theory. The study found that strong ideological positions led to frustration with the idealised role participants contributed to the forum as a vehicle for change. These frustrations were incorporated in their rationalistic and moralistic strategies of interaction with participants holding equally strong but opposing positions. Eventually those who were motivated to participate because of their dissonance with discourse, within and outside the context of the forum, either excluded themselves or became excluded as their voices were not appreciated. They could also not persuade others or effect structural change. Participants with mediating presences brought an amiable nuance to the forum and influenced protagonists to assume less declarative styles of interaction and reflect on their own unemancipatory positions. Based on the inclusionary and exclusionary elements found in the analyses, the study concludes with recommendations for the design and moderation of an inclusive and equalising space. This redefined space could subverse the dominating discourse of protagonists and foster a democratic discourse within the context of the forum and the university. / Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Development Innovation and Evaluation))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

This study takes a social constructionist approach, using narrative inquiry methods to analyse posts made by teenager girls on an online eating disorder forum. The study draws upon the sociology of childhood, which argues that children should be recognised as social actors, and as both ‘beings’ in the present, as well as future ‘becomings’. The study also draws upon the sociology of diagnosis, which recognizes the contested nature of diagnoses and medical authority in contemporary society. As lay people have increasing access to information, they have more power to challenge the ways in which their bodily experiences are constructed, as well as their potential medicalisation and demedicalisation.The study makes use of data from a website called TeenHelp, focusing specifically on the ‘eating disorders’ forum. Posts were selected from those made by girls aged 13 to 19 over the two years prior to the study (i.e. 1 April 1014 – 1 April 2016). Posts from 12 girls were analysed using narrative inquiry methods.The study identified the following six narratives: 1) identity narratives; 2) health narratives; 3) diagnostic narratives; 4) lay and expert narratives; 5) demedicalisation narratives and 6) recovery narratives. Importantly, these narratives do not exist in isolation from one another, but interact resulting in the ‘co-construction’ of eating disorders. These narratives are also not static, but are contested – constantly being challenged and negotiated on the forum.Overall, the posts analysed in this study showed that these teenage girls are always walking a fine line between being and becoming. They occupy a liminal space between being ‘thin’ and ‘fat’; between being ‘sick’ and ‘healthy’; between being ‘lay patients’ and ‘expert advisers’; between ‘treatment’ and ‘recovery’. The narratives analysed here show how these young women are wrestling with the complex notion of eating disorders as a potential source of identity, a medical diagnosis and condition which they may or may not ever fully recover from.

The rising support for right-wing populist parties and the subsequent anti-immigrant sentiment has become a focus of interest across academia, media, and public debates. In a similar vein, this thesis explores the portrayal of immigrants and citizens by the Swedish right-wing party Sweden Democrats leader and by the members of the Swedish online forum Flashback. The theoretical framework draws on the approaches- discourse theory and discursive psychology from discourse analysis that facilitated in examining the speeches and debates by the SD leader as well as the comments of the forum members. Whereas the results highlight the Sweden Democrats leader’s discourses constructing immigrants as a burden, the forum members are noted as constructing the immigrants as inherently flawed. Further, while the leader views the citizens as victims, who are denied their rights to resources and welfare, the forum members also describe themselves/citizens as victims, however, due to being denied a sense of belonging, autonomy, and prestige. The study also focused on identifying the strategies that both deploy to be persuasive. The results showed both using blame and victimization as strategies to be persuasive. The SD leader, by blaming the ruling party and victimizing the citizens is noted as aiming to create a grand discourse of- Country in Crisis, and thereby, comes across as seeking to instill fear, threat, and vulnerability among citizens. In contrast, the forum members are marked as blaming the immigrants, ruling elites as well as Swedish women, and victimizing themselves, and seem more focused on creating the discourse of People in Crisis. By doing so, they are noted as justifying their anger, disempowerment, and woundedness. Together, the leader and the forum-members discourses are viewed as creating a broader discourse that could benefit from further examination of the notions such as pessimistic persuasion, the powerlessness of us/we, and othering the insider.

Orientador: Inês Signorini / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-16T00:54:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Lima_Marcela_M.pdf: 5309466 bytes, checksum: 983959e87b020c2d57e52cd7d5def80e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: O objeto de nosso estudo neste trabalho é o fórum online de uma comunidade do orkut que se propõe a reunir voluntariamente pessoas interessadas em aprender a escrever melhor em português. Nossa análise voltou-se principalmente às concepções de escrita e de ensino da escrita manifestadas pelos participantes, bem como aos padrões interacionais que regulam o funcionamento do fórum online, com foco nos papéis sociointeracionais ali construídos, negociados e desempenhados. Orientamo-nos, para tanto, por estudos sobre aquisição da escrita em contexto escolar e não escolar (ROJO, 2003; FIAD & MAYRINK-SABINSON, 1991; MAYRINK-SABINSON, 1997), desenvolvidos no âmbito da Linguística Aplicada; sobre estruturas de participação em interações sociais em contexto escolar e não escolar presencial, desenvolvidos no âmbito da sociolinguística interacional (PHILIPS, 2001; SHULTZ, FLORIO & ERICKSON, 1982; GOFFMAN, 2002; GARCEZ, 2006; MOITA LOPES, 1994); e por estudos sobre fóruns online utilizados em contexto de Educação formal e não formal (PAIVA & RODRIGUES JUNIOR, 2004; OLIVEIRA & LUCENA FILHO, 2006; FUTTERLEIB & SANTOS, 1999), desenvolvidos na área de Ensino à Distância (EAD). Inserida no campo aplicado dos estudos da linguagem, nossa investigação está embasada numa metodologia qualitativo-interpretativista de análise de dados, não dispensando, porém, abordagens quantitativas quando necessárias. Nossos dados foram extraídos de um corpus formado por 204 tópicos (ou 735 posts), selecionados por amostragem ao longo de três anos e organizados em quatro conjuntos de 51 tópicos cada (Ano I, Ano II, Ano IIIa e Ano IIIb), contemplando, assim, uma amostra significativa dos três primeiros anos de interações (2006, 2007 e 2008). Com base nas categorias elaboradas por Dascal (2002) para o estudo da linguagem enquanto tecnologia, compreendemos o fórum online ao mesmo tempo como um ambiente, um recurso e uma ferramenta. No contexto analisado, é utilizado para a co-construção voluntária de um espaço público de interlocução com vistas ao aprimoramento de habilidades de escrita. Este espaço de interlocução também é co-construído em função da discussão e socialização de experiências com a escrita e da divulgação de eventos, sites e outros assuntos relacionados ao tema. Nossas análises revelam que as concepções de escrita e de ensino da escrita manifestadas refletem ou reproduzem concepções cristalizadas no senso comum (um bom leitor é um bom escritor; escrita como dom/inspiração) e/ou concepções escolares tradicionais historicamente desenvolvidas e disseminadas (escrita como um produto a ser corrigido e avaliado; escrita como um trabalho que envolve planejamento, escrita, revisão e adequação à norma culta da linguagem; escrita como conjunto de técnicas que devem ser apreendidas e reproduzidas, orientando-se, principalmente, pelas estratégias utilizadas pelos grandes autores da literatura). Em relação às estruturas de participação, o ambiente aberto do fórum online revela-se inovador e, em certa medida, promissor, pois além de facilitar o encontro entre pessoas desconhecidas com interesses comuns, potencializa e dinamiza a interlocução entre um sujeito/outro e um outro/sujeito. Além disso, por se tratarem de estruturas mais flexíveis do que as encontradas no modelo escolar tradicional, todos os participantes têm o direito de expor uma opinião, com foco na modalidade escrita da língua; todos têm o direito de orientar e serem orientados em relação à aprendizagem da escrita; todos têm o direito de desempenhar livremente papéis sociais tradicionais da sala de aula (aluno e professor) e/ou interacionais (debatedor, animador, regente, líder intelectual, corretor) geralmente atribuídos ao moderador de um fórum online, dependendo das demandas locais surgidas no curso das interações / Abstract: The object of our study is a community forum on orkut that intend to bring together people interested in voluntarily learning to improve their writing in Portuguese. Our analysis addresses primarily the concepts of writing and teaching writing expressed by participants and the interactional patterns that regulate the operation of the forum, focusing on the sociointeractional roles constructed, negotiated and performed in this space. Our work is based on studies on the acquisition of writing in school and non-school contexts, developed in the field of applied linguistics (ROJO, 2003; FIAD & MAYRINK-SABINSON, 1991; MAYRINK-SABINSON, 1997); on structures of participation in social interactions in the context of schoolroom and in other spaces of presential learning, developed within the interactional sociolinguistic (PHILIPS, 2001; SHULTZ, FLORIO & ERICKSON, 1982; GOFFMAN, 2002; GARCEZ, 2006; MOITA LOPES, 1994); and studies on e-learning forums used in the context of formal and non-formal education, developed in the area of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) (PAIVA & RODRIGUES JUNIOR, 2004; OLIVEIRA & LUCENA FILHO, 2006; FUTTERLEIB & SANTOS, 1999). Inserted in the field of applied language studies, our research methodology is grounded in a qualitative interpretive analysis of data, without avoiding quantitative approaches when necessary. Our data were extracted from a corpus formed by 204 topics (or 735 posts), selected by sampling over three years and organized into four sets of 51 topics each one (Year I, Year II, Year IIIa and IIIb). Thus it encompasses a significant sample of the first three years of interactions (2006, 2007 and 2008). Based on categories developed by Dascal (2002) for the study of language as a technology, we understand the online forum as an environment, a resource and a tool at the same time. In the analyzed context, it is used for voluntary co-construction of a public space for dialogue with a view to the improvement of writing skills. This space for dialogue is also co-constructed for discussion and sharing of experiences with writing and dissemination of events, sites and other matters related to the subject. Our analysis shows that the concepts of writing and teaching writing expressed reflect or reproduce ideas deeprooted in the common sense (a good reader is a good writer, writing as gift/ inspiration) and/or traditional school concepts historically developed and disseminated (writing as a product to be corrected and evaluated, writing as a work involving planning, writing, review and adequacy to the standard form of language, writing as a set of techniques that should be learned and reproduced, guided mainly by the strategies used by major authors of the literature). In relation to the structures of participation, the open environment of the online forum seem to be innovative and to some extent promising, because besides facilitating the meeting between strangers with common interests, it enhances and streamlines the communication channels between a subject/other and a other/subject. Furthermore, the structures are more flexible than those found in traditional school model, all participants have the right to express an opinion, with a focus on the written language, to supervise and be supervised about the learning of writing, to play freely the traditional social roles of the classroom (student and teacher) and/or the interactional roles (debater, motivating person, conductor, intellectual leader, corrector) usually attributed to the moderator of an online forum, depending on the local demands arising in the course of interactions / Mestrado / Lingua Materna / Mestre em Linguística Aplicada

In many ways the current publishing system in rhetoric and composition, which centers on the peer-reviewed journal, undermines core values we hold for ideal scholarly communication. These values include collaboration, dialogue, participation, and public engagement. Though the current system's methods of preserving, distributing, and maintaining quality control of scholarly work contradict our values, technological developments have made possible alternative publishing models that could better uphold our values. Developing a preprint archive where scholars develop and share ideas before submitting them for publication in traditional peer-reviewed journals would bring our publishing process closer to our ideals.

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The poor performance by South African pupils in The Third International Mathematics and Science Study highlighted the importance of and need for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for South African mathematics teachers. For these teachers, the sudden, rapid and dramatic advent of the World Wide Web (WWW) and its communication conduit, the Internet, with its multimedia capabilities, interactive tools and telecommunication facilities, seems full of potential as a catalyst for significant and sustained online CPD activities. However, the Internet's usefulness for mathematics and spontaneous mathematical interaction is severely limited. Against this background, the motivation for this study was born out of two beliefs - a belief that context needs to be considered in online endeavours, particularly given the disparities that exist between disadvantaged and advantaged teachers in the South African context; and the belief that a bottoms-up approach to community formation allows space for a self-organizing system whose continual health and functioning is dependent upon local ownership and member identification. Having developed a mathematics-friendly online forum environment (ODEM) that allows teachers to include mathematical expressions in their posts, this study investigated the personal and situational tensions impacting on the use and value of this appropriate forum environment as a reflective tool in pursuit of CPD. Two groups of disadvantaged and advantaged mathematics teachers were separately provided with Personal Computers and home Internet access, thereby creating opportunities for reflection, communication with colleagues and the exchange of knowledge and ideas. Little evidence of community growth was found, while disadvantaged teachers faced more tensions than advantaged teachers in using the ODEM. Despite these differences, both groups' tensions pointed to their real (and thus forum) needs not being addressed. These forum needs are related to issues arising from their practice and the need for a channel of communication to a Subject Advisor that should actively manage these needs. A vertical relationship with the Subject Advisor is preferred over collegial interaction, over the needs to include expressions in their posts, or to reflect on their practice. Until teachers' needs are resolved, the ODEM is thus perceived to have potential value. The results furthermore informed a model that can be used by a Subject Advisor to determine teachers' tensions and needs in context, thereby ensuring appropriate online CPD strategies. / Mathematics, Science and Technology-Education / Ph. D. (Mathematics, Science and Technology-Education)

Das Web 2.0 ist u.a. auch eine weltweite Plattform für Meinungsäußerungen. Immer mehr Kunden diskutieren online über Produkte und tauschen Erfahrungen aus. Die Analyse der Online Beiträge stellt daher ein wichtiges Marktforschungsinstrument dar. Es wird ein Ansatz zur automatischen Identifikation, Aggregation und Analyse von Meinungen mittels Text Mining vorgestellt und dessen Anwendung an einem Beispiel aus der Sportartikelindustrie aufgezeigt.