RIASSUNTO CH 1 - 2 : Analyzing digital discourse - new insight and future direction PDF

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Utile per esame Prof Bondi 2020-2021
riassunto del primo capitolo di introduzione (escludendo i vari "riasssunti" dei capitoli precedenti) e del secondo (lo sudio di Susan Herring)...

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PART I - Introduction to Analysing Digital Discourse: New Insights and Future Direction

In order to understand what digital discourse analysis is we must define what discourse is first. DEFINITION: An outdated definition of the 1980-1990’s sees discourse as language in use. A more recent from 1992 says that discourse is concerned with social practice (Fairclough) .

Based on these definitions of discourse, we can define discourse analysis, also called: - Computer-Mediated Discourse - New Media Sociolinguistics - Language and Digital Communication as the study of the ways people build and manage their social world using various semiotic systems. There are 3 WAVES of discourse analysis: 1. The 90’s – descriptive linguistic approaches 2. The 2000’s - Computer mediated discourse study (social oriented studies – e.g. linguistic variability, social diversity, identity issues, community formation and maintenance) 3. Translocality (local practices in global settings) & Transmediality (how users transcend different medias)

PART II – The Coevolution of Computer-Mediated Communication and Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis Susan Herring Introduction Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) first existed only in the form of text. With time, it evolved to include other types of media (images, videos…). Computer mediated discourse analysis developed and changed on the same pace as CMC: it was first only conceived to analyse text-forms and then evolved to take into consideration other medias, now accounting for analysis of video mediated communication, graphical phenomena like memes and emojis. The aim of the paper is to analyse diachronically how CMDA and CMC codeveloped

Computer-mediated Discourse Analysis CMDA bases itself on discourse analysis, which took a rapid trajectory starting from the second part of the 70’s. with the creation of CMC, CMDA soon developed. Two key moments can be analysed. The mid 90’s : the focus was mainly on

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textual analysis

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oral analysis :

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Conversation analysis: looking at the interaction, the context, the tone, power dynamics, change of topics…

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Interactional Sociolinguistics: which pays attention to social conditions around the interaction

Later on, the 2000’s online interactions were analysed trough a methodological toolkit: 4 levels 1. Structure 2. Meaning 3. Interaction 4. Social behaviours

Synchronous asynchronous

CMDA includes also studies on: - Ethnography - Education - Human-computer interactions : - Language studies on: A) Conversation analysis B) Social semiotics C) Pragmatics

Applied to video/audio conferences

A historical retrospective: 3 phases

Phase I: pre-web (1830-1993) First wave: early CMC The first interesting tool for CMC was the Arpanet : Created in the 60s by US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) . this, like another series of online platforms were relatively difficult to access. • Only texts • Access: - Separate stand-alone client - Dial-up modem -> slow Early research scholars focused on: - Abbreviated spelling - Spelling - Dialogue structure Second wave: 1993 

internet access began to spread

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CMC became more popular

Research scholars focused on: -orality, creativity, and play in typography, orthography and morpho-syntax Phase II: Web 1.0 (1994-2004) •

First introduced in 1989 by Tim Berners- Lee -> spread in the 90s

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No longer line-by-line browsers

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Wider access • USA, UK, Other Countries

Research focuses on: •

Race • Gender • Age and/or sexuality > focus on the anonymity on the web

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Language choice

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Code switching

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Multilinguism

A result of a larger accessibility and use of web spaces with different practices, Online Communities became a more common reality. Thus, – CMD in CMC Research began to exist, and focused on: •

Discourse community-hood norms

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Insider and outsider language

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CMC - Interaction management (affected by technological properties) – intertextuality

Phase III: Web 2.0 (2004-2017) The term “Web 2.0” was used for the first time by Tim O’ Reilly as the name for a Conference for leaders of the internet Economy(to) gather to debate and determine business strategy.

The term also refers to advancements in

-web technology -web design And the larger presence of public on all sorts of web tools and platforms: email, blog, social networks, forums etc

During the 2 previous phases there were still doubts whether or not to consider the activities on the web as CMC but not anymore being the web fully interactive and largely used. CMDA research focuses on: • Pragmatics • Variationist sociolinguistics • Convergent Media CMC: text + other channels of communication • Online & Offline communication (e.g. lying, email hoaxes & frauds, spam,etc.) • Automated corpus analysis • Participation in CMC • Humour • Language change • (im)politeness

Reconceptualizing CMC At the end of her study, Herring proposes to reconceptualize CMC as fundamentally (thus, only) as multimodal, in the sense that seen the developed that it has reached it could be more precise to see it this way. (Text-only communication is not disappeared, but multimodal communication is much more prominent.)

CMC now accounts for 3 NEW PHENOMENA: 1. Communication on Interactive Multimodal Platforms (IMP) 2. Graphical Communication (e.g. avatars, mediated communication) 3. Robot mediated communication

Let’s analyse them one by one.

1. Communication on Interactive Multimodal Platforms DEFINITION: Digital platforms with 2/+ semiotic modes (text+audio+video+/or graphics) that support humanto-human communication Example: youtube (video + comments) Live-play games where players have access to video/audio conferencing 2. Graphical Communication (eg. Avatar mediated communication) DEFINITION: type of communication that happends: -in lieu of / in conjunction with text (emojis, memes, gifs, stikers) This type of communication existed since the beginning of popularized internet use with avatars in interactive chat rooms. 2000s’s Second Life or the more recent World of Worcraft are more complex example of graphical communication since the avatar employed by the user has a greater communicative repertoire. Newer studies are also analysing the role of GC: Emoji ambiguity – resolution – miscommunication; limits: difficulty in expressing abstract concepts 3. Robot Mediated Communication (RMC) or Telepresence DEFINITION: We refer to Robotic devices controlled by remote users that can be navigated through physical environments (e.g. two-way audio and video conferencing) Problems with social interaction – robot ‘pilots’ affect ability to attract attention and to gain & hold the conversation....