Where the role of instructor discourse has been the focus of much recent research on asynchronous online instruction, the anatomy of effective instructional discourse of foreign language educators has yet to be examined. Indeed, the majority of work in the area of foreign language and telecommunications has concentrated on student-student,…

Research on interaction has provided important insights on how second languages may be acquired through interaction, and on how second language learners use their second language in various settings and tasks. Research into computer mediated communication (CMC) in a second language learning context has been a logical outcome of interactionist…

Few studies have investigated therapist interns' growth experiences, both personal and professional, and the interplay between them. This qualitative study explored the reciprocal process of growth during clinical training: the personal life experiences that affect professional growth and the professional/clinical experiences that affect personal…

Recent research on online learning has explored the dense fabric of social presence giving us a better understanding of the rhythms of the teaching-learning exchange. Quantitative studies, especially, have concluded with calls for deeper, more intensive explorations into what happens in online learning environments (Rourke, Anderson, Garrison, &…

For the past five years, the author has spent time talking with, interviewing, interacting with, and investigating language with adolescent females in chat rooms while they engage in synchronous talk. The discussion often centers on their interest in pop culture--music, movies, television, books, games, and anything else that is worthy of…

Staff involved in pedagogic innovations are often presented with challenges that take them outside their customary spheres of expertise and disciplinary identities. This paper presents an analysis of data collected from staff involved in a "bottom up" pedagogic innovation introducing inquiry-based learning to a cohort of first year social science…

Increasingly, employers require job seekers to submit their applications electronically. However, while most job seekers may be familiar with email and other modern communication technologies, they often wonder about the rhetorical strategies to be used in their messages. This article describes a case study of a job applicant to identify the…

This study examined children's presentations of the "LD experience" as expressed in online messages on a public website designed for children with learning and attention problems. Earlier research has demonstrated that children view the Internet as a social medium that enables communication and promotes personal relationships. In the current…

There is a body of evidence supporting the claim that informal interactions in educational environments have positive effects on learning. In order to increase the opportunities of informal interaction in online courses, an instant messaging tool, called CENTERS, was developed and integrated into online learning environments. This tool provides…

This paper draws on the work of Mikhail Bakhtin and Norman Fairclough to show how dialogue is central to the construction of identity in networked management learning. The paper is based on a case study of a networked management learning course in higher education and attempts to illustrate how participants negotiate issues of difference,…

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are often portrayed as offering a collaborative community space in which native and non-native language speakers reciprocally scaffold linguistic, cultural and content knowledge, a space which assists students in overcoming well-documented challenges encountered in traditional classrooms (Leki,…

Researchers studying socialization in online learning note that definitions are quite broad, suggesting that "Socialization is about people being able to mingle and establish connections on one or more levels. They speak[with] one another; share ideas and information and confirm the connections made through an agreed upon means." More broadly,…

Libraries transform communities by providing well-organized information resources and services. Conversely, communities can also transform libraries if librarians appreciate the rich diversity of the communities' information needs, acting as bridges between communities as well as enabling and facilitating community-building. The roles of…

The objective of this research was to compare the quality and quantity of teacher and student interaction in an on-line versus face-to-face learning environment. A Master's level course on nursing theories was taught by the same professor by both methods. Transcripts of the face-to-face class and on-line postings were analyzed to identify…

The opportunity to engage in discussion with others about teaching issues is essential to a teacher's professional development, and can potentially be afforded through online discussions. The following study explored the use of online discussion as a way to engage beginning teachers in professional development. An investigation was conducted to…