Investigating L2 learners’ sociopragmatic development in online asynchronous discussion

Despite a burgeoning research of pragmatics in second language learning, there has been insufficient work on the relations among social variables and speech acts in an online learning context. This study examines the sociopragmatic development of L2 learners through online asynchronous discussion. P...

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Main Author: Wong, Shin Pyng *
Format: Conference or Workshop Item
Language:English
Published: 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/171/
http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/171/1/Wong%20Shin%20Pyng%20-Investigating%20L2%20Learners%27%20Sociopragmatic%20Development%20in%20Online%20Asynchronous%20Discussion.pdf
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author Wong, Shin Pyng *
author_facet Wong, Shin Pyng *
author_sort Wong, Shin Pyng *
building SU Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Despite a burgeoning research of pragmatics in second language learning, there has been insufficient work on the relations among social variables and speech acts in an online learning context. This study examines the sociopragmatic development of L2 learners through online asynchronous discussion. Participants were 18 undergraduate students who enrolled in a compulsory English course. The subjects took part in a web-based collaborative discussion for four weeks. In the form of computer-mediated discourse, the learners’ speech acts were analysed statistically. Social variables which are gender and familiarity between participants were identified and discussed. The descriptive findings indicate that social variables were related to certain online speech acts. Regression analysis however shows that gender and familiarity were not significant predictors of L2 learners’ online utterances. It was found that more proficient L2 learners assisted less proficient peers through active participation and employment of myriad speech acts. Results also suggest that the use of specific utterances affects a learner’s role in the organisational hierarchy of online discussion. This study suggests pedagogical implications for the L2 learners’ acquisition of sociopragmatic competence through online peer collaboration.
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language English
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spelling sunway-1712013-07-15T07:15:45Z http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/171/ Investigating L2 learners’ sociopragmatic development in online asynchronous discussion Wong, Shin Pyng * LB Theory and practice of education P Philology. Linguistics PE English Despite a burgeoning research of pragmatics in second language learning, there has been insufficient work on the relations among social variables and speech acts in an online learning context. This study examines the sociopragmatic development of L2 learners through online asynchronous discussion. Participants were 18 undergraduate students who enrolled in a compulsory English course. The subjects took part in a web-based collaborative discussion for four weeks. In the form of computer-mediated discourse, the learners’ speech acts were analysed statistically. Social variables which are gender and familiarity between participants were identified and discussed. The descriptive findings indicate that social variables were related to certain online speech acts. Regression analysis however shows that gender and familiarity were not significant predictors of L2 learners’ online utterances. It was found that more proficient L2 learners assisted less proficient peers through active participation and employment of myriad speech acts. Results also suggest that the use of specific utterances affects a learner’s role in the organisational hierarchy of online discussion. This study suggests pedagogical implications for the L2 learners’ acquisition of sociopragmatic competence through online peer collaboration. 2012-08-15 Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed text en http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/171/1/Wong%20Shin%20Pyng%20-Investigating%20L2%20Learners%27%20Sociopragmatic%20Development%20in%20Online%20Asynchronous%20Discussion.pdf Wong, Shin Pyng * (2012) Investigating L2 learners’ sociopragmatic development in online asynchronous discussion. In: International Conference on Learning (19th), 14 - 16 August 2012, London. (Submitted)
spellingShingle LB Theory and practice of education
P Philology. Linguistics
PE English
Wong, Shin Pyng *
Investigating L2 learners’ sociopragmatic development in online asynchronous discussion
title Investigating L2 learners’ sociopragmatic development in online asynchronous discussion
title_full Investigating L2 learners’ sociopragmatic development in online asynchronous discussion
title_fullStr Investigating L2 learners’ sociopragmatic development in online asynchronous discussion
title_full_unstemmed Investigating L2 learners’ sociopragmatic development in online asynchronous discussion
title_short Investigating L2 learners’ sociopragmatic development in online asynchronous discussion
title_sort investigating l2 learners’ sociopragmatic development in online asynchronous discussion
topic LB Theory and practice of education
P Philology. Linguistics
PE English
url http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/171/
http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/171/1/Wong%20Shin%20Pyng%20-Investigating%20L2%20Learners%27%20Sociopragmatic%20Development%20in%20Online%20Asynchronous%20Discussion.pdf