Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
language production in CMC environments is captured means DA is an ideal tool to
analyze communication in empirical terms (Herring
2004
). Initial efforts to apply
DA used asynchronous tools, looking primarily at word counts and numbers of
postings, but then moved toward a more semantic-based analysis of content
(Fitzpatrick and Donnelly
2010
), a reflection of both the ever growing
multimodality of CMCs, as well as a move from cognitive analyses to SCT.
Van Leeuwen (
2008
) argues that for DA to be effectively applied, researchers
will need to move from a linguistic analysis to a more socio-semantic one, and
not be shy of incorporating additional cultural theories to augment and inform DA.
One component of DA is Conversation Analysis (CA) which focuses on turn-
taking, adjacency, and repair between interlocutors. CA was originally developed
as a tool to analyze social interaction rather than language acquisition (Egbert et al.
2004
; Hauser
2005
;He
2004
) although this has been challenged of late for use in
conjunction with sociocultural and activity theories, situated learning theory, and
longitudinal studies (Gonz´lez-Lloret
2011
). Consequently for language acquisi-
tion, there are only a few studies (Kitade
2000
,
2005
; Negretti
1999
; Thorne
2000
;
Gonz´lez-Lloret
2007
,
2008
,
2009
) that analyze learners' foreign language acqui-
sition. Gonz´lez-Lloret (
2011
) believes that for CA to demonstrate learning,
expanding the definition of learning may be necessary, so that SLA is not limited
only to linguistic features but also includes the social context and sequential
development of interactions. In particular, the use of CA for the study of multi-
modal synchronous CMC is still relatively new (Jenks
2009
). As interactional
software becomes more sophisticated and internet connections become faster and
more powerful, the use of video in connection with audio and text is becoming more
common (Gonz
´
lez-Lloret
2011
).
The value of being able to use CA and DA lies within the fact that authentic
language is measurable in a classroom, as compared to traditional sources which
have tended to be outside the classroom (Gonz
´
lez-Lloret
2011
). Furthermore,
being able to describe perceived changes in SL proficiency ensures that these
methods provide valued insights for educational institutions as well as researchers.
8.6 Summary
Education is a huge service industry in most countries around the world. In the United
States, it is second behind the health sector at 10 % of GDP (Larson
2009
). It performs
a number of roles in society - which, perhaps, accounts for its lack of change over the
last 100 years (Larson
2009
). This paper has covered just one aspect of the education
sector - second language acquisition (SLA) in which one 'hard' technological
innovation was examined: computer-mediated communication (CMC). Using
Zhouying's perspective, whereby the notion of technology incorporates innovative
methods of practice, thought and management in addition to normative concepts of
artifacts, we can see that successful implementation actually requires advances in a
variety
of skills.
