Software systems form an essential part of Western society,serving as tools to uphold institutions, processes andservices. It is understandable, therefore, that the mostfundamental aspects of programs are their function and utility.But they are not, however, the only things programmers areconcerned with when writing them. On the contrary, programmers also discuss about many otheraspects of software, including the beauty of code. Theydistinguish between different programming styles and expresstheir personal preferences, often by way of admiring andvilifying other people's code. Programmers' identification withaesthetic preferences may give rise to vanity, to disagreementsso entrenched that they deserve the name of 'holy wars' and toother similar phenomena. This thesis describes and analyses these phenomena, whichultimately originate in the human faculty to create andappreciate nuances, to become attached to them and to engage indisputes because of them - even infields as standardised ascomputer programming. Its aim is to expose the aesthetics ofcode, and in doing so, to discuss the symbolic aspects ofinstrumental action at large. Keywords:aesthetics, code, instrumental action,internet discussion fora, programming, symbolic action / <p>NR 20140805</p>

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

[pt] Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo estudar a interação em um fórum de discussão online de um curso híbrido de formação de professores de inglês, com ensino presencial e a distância, em uma instituição particular de ensino de idiomas. Visando desenvolver uma investigação nas áreas de aprendizagem à distância e interação social, este trabalho busca responder a duas questões: (1) Como as relações interpessoais podem influenciar as práticas discursivas no contexto de aprendizagem online? (2) Tendo em vista os princípios de EAD, como o curso analisado reflete a perspectiva de aprendizagem colaborativa? O trabalho foi desenvolvido seguindo os fundamentos de Ensino a Distância (Burge, 1998; Lévy, 1993; Berge, 1995; Johnson e Johnson, 1994), os pressupostos teóricos da Lingüística Sistêmico-Funcional (Halliday, 1994; Halliday e Hasan, 1989; Thompson, 2004) e da Teoria da Valoração (Martin, 2000; Martin e White, 2005; White, 2005). O corpus utilizado é composto de aproximadamente 90.000 palavras e engloba trocas interpessoais entre tutores e cursistas, todos professores de inglês, em atividades plenárias e em grupos, desenvolvidas no fórum de discussão online. O discurso dos participantes foi analisado com o auxílio de ferramentas computacionais de buscas em contexto, e através da identificação manual de marcas lingüísticas de valoração. Resultados quantitativos e qualitativos da pesquisa apontam para a existência de pouca interação no fórum, além de relações assimétricas entre tutores e cursistas. Ambos os achados demonstram que este fórum de discussão online não se caracterizou como um ambiente propício à aprendizagem colaborativa. A pesquisa aponta para a necessidade de: (1) identificação e formulação de tarefas online com características mais compatíveis com o paradigma de aprendizagem colaborativa; (2) maior integração entre teoria e prática na área de ensino a distância; e (3) aprofundamento e disseminação do conhecimento acerca da prática discursiva de tutores, visando viabilizar um ambiente de maior colaboração entre os participantes. / [en] This research aims at studying the interaction taking place in the online discussion forum of a hybrid English teaching training course, with face-to-face and online components, at a private language teaching institution in Brazil. In order to conduct an investigation into distance learning and social interaction, this study tries to answer two questions: (1) How can interpersonal relationships influence discursive practices in the e-learning context? (2) Bearing in mind distance learning principles, to what extent does the analyzed course reflect the collaborative learning approach? The work was developed following distance learning principles (Burge, 1998; Lévy, 1993; Berge, 1995; Johnson e Johnson, 1994); a theoretical framework based on Systemic-Functional Linguistics (Halliday, 1994; Halliday e Hasan, 1989; Thompson, 2004) and Appraisal Theory (Martin, 2000; Martin e White, 2005; White, 2005). The 90,000-word corpus used for the investigation consists of exchanges between online tutors and course participants (all of them English teachers), working as one whole group or several small groups. Discourse was analyzed with the aid of a concordance software and linguistic appraisal features were identified. Quantitative and qualitative research results point to little interaction in the discussion forum, as well as to the existence of asymmetrical relationships among online tutors and course participants. Both findings demonstrate that this online discussion forum was not an ideal environment for collaborative learning. This research highlights the need for: (1) the identification and creation of online tasks which are more in tune with the collaborative learning concept; (2) a closer relation between theory and practice as far as distance learning is concerned; (3) further investigation and sharing of knowledge on tutors` discourse, so as to create a more inviting environment for collaboration.

Thesis advisor: Curt Dudley-Marling / Federal legislation now requires that all children participate in large-scale, statewide assessments in English in an effort to increase accountability and bolster student achievement (Abedi, Hofstetter, & Lord, 2004; Hass, 2002). Students labeled as "English language learners" (ELLs) consistently score dramatically lower on English language and literacy assessments than their native speaking peers (Au & Raphael, 2000; National Center for Educational Statistics, 2011). Additionally, most mainstream teachers are not adequately prepared to meet the linguistic challenges that ELLs face in classroom settings (Lucas & Villegas, 2011). Reading aloud to bilingual students, specifically using components of a shared reading model (Holdaway, 1979), potentially provides an avenue for meaningful language and literacy development. While a corpus of research exists about reading aloud with English-speaking students, there has been limited research on its use with bilingual students in classroom settings. Drawing on a sociocultural theoretical framework (Gee, 1996; Vygotsky, 1978), the Output Hypothesis of second language acquisition (Swain, 1985), ethnographic perspectives (Heath & Street, 2008), action research (Stringer, 1999) and discourse analysis (Bloome et al., 2008), this qualitative study examined the practice of four pre-service elementary teachers reading aloud English texts (fiction, expository, and poetry) to small groups of bilingual students across four grade levels. The research was conducted to study pre-service teachers' language and literacy teaching practices and pre-service teacher-bilingual student interaction patterns in read aloud contexts to better understand their potential for bilingual student language and literacy learning. Additionally, the study provided beginning teachers with professional development geared towards helping pre-service teachers to meet the unique language and literacy needs of bilingual students. It was found that pre-service teachers consistently strived to develop students' word knowledge and support text comprehension. In doing so, teachers utilized a variety of teaching practices and linguistic patterns of interaction during read alouds which varied across teachers. The argument is made that these various teacher moves and discourse patterns led to qualitatively different types of interactions and affordances for bilingual student learning. Implications for mainstream classroom teachers and teacher education programs are provided. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

There has been a digital transformation of the political public sphere. The political conversation is now taking place on multiple social media platforms and information is filtered through a new kind of gatekeeper, the influencer. The aim of this thesis is to describe how the public political conversation is framed in the Youtube-series Partitempen, and if deliberative discussion is taking place in the comment section. And whether the deliberative discussion is derived from the conversation in Partitempen or not. To answer the research questions two methods are used. A deductive qualiative tematic analysis, which applies the theory personlization of politics on the conversation between party leader and influencer in Partitempen. As well a content analysis based on the concept of deliberative discussion is used to research the comment section. To conclude, the conversation in Partitempen is framed around the themes in described in personalization of politics. New dimensions between themes appear by using the qualitative resarch approach. One of them is ’the role of the party leader’ which focuses on the change of private life when beeing a party leader. The other is that the ’private life is used as a benchmark for the party leaders’ own political stand. The result from the content analysis show that deliberative discussion is taking place in the comment section. The most common topic is substansive questions reagarding politics, and that those often derives from the conversation in Partitempen.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / This study was undertaken to compare the views of leaders, former members of discussion groups and the agency's view of what is involved in discussion groups carried on by the Family Life Education Department of the Greater Boston Family Service Association. It is felt that by gaining additional insight into how the practitioner, in the case of the leaders, and the consumer, in the case of the former members, see the discussion groups, it is hoped that some of these views obtained may eventually be applied in improving future groups. It is also felt that if the agency's stated purpose of the discussion groups is considered in the comparison of the leaders' views and the former members' views of the groups, this will serve to suggest ways of improving the future groups. Another purpose of this study is that it is believed that it will yield indications as to the value of discussion groups of this type.

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Chen, Gaowei. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 149-171). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

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A number of approaches and methods are being used to assess higher cognition within online threaded discussions, as evidenced by the corpus of scholarship. However, a review of the literature suggests that current strategies relating to asynchronous discourse have tended to focus on cognitive processes that are mostly driven by task-oriented communication, thereby failing to assess the quality of interactions that engender meaning-making and knowledge creation. The first goal of this study was to decompose and interpret examples of threaded conversation exhibiting lexical attributes of higher cognition. The second goal was to identify instances of critical thinking and indicators of deep learning contributing to meaningful reflection within diachronic encounters to develop more effective higher-order thinking strategies within discussions. Discourse analysis theory in conjunction with Garrison's stages of critical thinking was used to examine meaning-making within contexts of social interaction. Archival discussion data were examined from 39 participants derived from 2 online undergraduate courses at a small private university in the southeastern United States. The content analysis qualitative design applied computer-mediated discourse analysis (CMDA) to analyze and classify statements in discussion transcripts according to Garrison's stages of critical thinking. Results indicated a pattern of utterances suggesting in-depth learning, with a smaller sample of stanzas indicating surface-level processing. Results of this study can be used by teachers and course designers to create positive change by purposefully engendering critical reflection, thereby preparing learners for the work of the future necessitating well thought-out approaches to grapple with new problems and situations in new ways.