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P01547:
 
Language,
 
culture
 
and
 
communication
 
in
 
online
 
learning
 
Noamgalai:
 
'Socializing'
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/noamg/218169158/
 
‘Face
 
work’
 
in
 
Facebook:
 
An
 
analysis
 
of 
 
an
 
online
 
discourse
 
community
 
Tony
 
McNeill
 
April
 
2008
 
 
2
 
|
 
P a g e
 
1.
 
Introduction
 
and
 
context
 
My
 
chosen
 
online
 
discourse
 
community
 
relates
 
to
 
my
 
professional
 
practice
 
as
 
a
 
lecturer
 
based
 
in
 
the
 
Academic
 
Development
 
Centre
 
(ADC)
 
at
 
Kingston
 
University.
 
Within
 
the
 
ADC
 
I
 
am
 
involved
 
in
 
providing,
 
amongst
 
other
 
things,
 
a
 
range
 
of 
 
academic
 
staff 
 
development
 
opportunities
 
and
 
guidance
 
in
 
the
 
area
 
of 
 
e
‐
learning.
 
An
 
emerging
 
area
 
of 
 
interest
 
at
 
Kingston
 
University
 
is
 
the
 
use
 
of 
 
Web
 
2.0
 
tools
 
and
 
platforms
 
as
 
a
 
supplement
 
to,
 
or
 
in
 
some
 
cases,
 
as
 
a
 
replacement
 
of,
 
the
 
Blackboard
 
Virtual
 
Learning
 
Environment
 
(VLE),
 
currently
 
the
 
institution’s
 
main
 
platform
 
to
 
support
 
learning,
 
teaching
 
and
 
assessment.
 
A
 
small
 
but
 
growing
 
number
 
of 
 
colleagues
 
have
 
articulated
 
a
 
concern
 
that
 
the
 
university’s
 
technological
 
infrastructure
 
was
 
too
 
detached
 
from
 
the
 
practice
 
of 
 
its
 
students;
 
for
 
example,
 
there
 
is
 
currently
 
minimal
 
support
 
for
 
outbound
 
text
 
messaging
 
in
 
a
 
youth
 
culture
 
in
 
which
 
texting
 
is
 
the
 
norm
 
and
 
there
 
is
 
little
 
use
 
of 
 
social
 
networking
 
sites
 
(SNS)
 
which
 
are
 
growing
 
in
 
popularity
 
amongst
 
young
 
people
 
of,
 
or
 
approaching,
 
university
 
age
 
(JISC
 
2007a;
 
JISC
 
2007b;
 
JISC
 
2008;
 
Kennedy,
 
G.
 
et 
 
al 
.
 
2006;
 
Livingstone
 
&
 
Bober
 
2005;
 
Salaway,
 
G.
 
&
 
Borreson
 
Carouso,
 
J.
 
2007).
 
In
 
response
 
to
 
this,
 
some
 
colleagues
 
have
 
begun
 
to
 
go
 
‘beyond
 
Blackboard’
 
and
 
experiment
 
with
 
alternative
 
environments
 
including
 
SNS
 
such
 
as
 
Facebook.
 
The
 
use
 
of 
 
SNS
 
in
 
Higher
 
Education
 
raises
 
a
 
range
 
of 
 
interesting
 
issues
 
about
 
language,
 
discourse,
 
power
 
and
 
culture
 
that
 
some
 
researchers
 
have
 
begun
 
to
 
address
 
(boyd
 
2007;
 
boyd
 
&
 
Ellison
 
2008;
 
Ellison
 
et 
 
al.
 
2007;
 
Liu
 
2008;
 
Merchant
 
2006;
 
Selwyn
 
2007;
 
Stutzman
 
2005).
 
Questions
 
that
 
particularly
 
interest
 
me
 
include:
 
•
 
What
 
discoursal
 
expectations
 
emerge
 
from
 
the
 
use
 
of 
 
an
 
informal
 
'outside'
 
space
 
to
 
host
 
a
 
learning
 
community?
 
What
 
are
 
the
 
kinds
 
of 
 
politeness
 
strategies
 
deployed?
 
•
 
Does
 
communication
 
in
 
‘their’
 
[i.e.
 
student]
 
space
 
alter
 
the
 
power
 
dynamic
 
between
 
tutors
 
and
 
students,
 
lessening
 
social
 
distance
 
between
 
participants?
 
•
 
Does
 
the
 
widespread
 
use
 
of 
 
SNS
 
by
 
students
 
for
 
particular
 
forms
 
of 
 
identity
 
performances,
 
often
 
at
 
variance
 
with
 
‘official’
 
academic
 
identities
 
(Selwyn
 
2007),
 
militate
 
against
 
its
 
use
 
as
 
a
 
virtual
 
learning
 
environment?
 
•
 
What
 
are
 
the
 
key
 
characteristics
 
of 
 
language
 
use
 
in
 
an
 
SNS?
 
Do
 
they
 
change
 
as
 
a
 
result
 
of 
 
the
 
involvement
 
of 
 
an
 
academic
 
tutor?
 
Is
 
there
 
a
 
distinctive
 
variation
 
in
 
language
 
use
 
between
 
an
 
institutional
 
VLE
‐
based
 
discussion
 
board
 
post
 
or
 
email
 
exchange
 
and
 
those
 
situated
 
within
 
a
 
third
‐
party
 
SNS?
 
This
 
analysis
 
will
 
consider
 
these
 
questions,
 
respectively
 
covering
 
discourse,
 
power,
 
culture
 
and
 
language,
 
within
 
the
 
context
 
of 
 
the
 
use
 
of 
 
the
 
Facebook
 
SNS
 
as
 
an
 
environment
 
for
 
course
‐
specific
 
student
 
support.
 
I
 
will
 
take
 
as
 
my
 
discourse
 
community
 
the
 
staff 
 
and
 
students
 
enrolled
 
on
 
the
 
BA
 
Film
 
Studies
 
programme
 
(both
 
single
 
and
 
 joint
 
honours)
 
in
 
the
 
2007/8
 
academic
 
year.
 
The
 
corpus
 
of 
 
linguistic
 
exchanges
 
for
 
analysis
 
is
 
comprised
 
of 
 
Facebook
 
interactions
 
between
 
a
 
Lecturer
 
in
 
Film
 
Studies
 
(henceforth
 
known
 
as
 
David),
 
and
 
his
 
students.
 
I
 
will
 
concentrate
 
primarily
 
on
 
a
 
series
 
of 
 
group
 
email
 
exchanges
 
and
 
discussion
 
board
 
posts
 
between
 
David
 
and
 
his
 
students.
 
These
 
emails
 
are
 
 
3
 
|
 
P a g e
 
included
 
in
 
the
 
Appendix.
 
I
 
have
 
secured
 
permission
 
from
 
the
 
colleague
 
concerned,
 
as
 
well
 
as
 
his
 
students,
 
to
 
analyse
 
their
 
Facebook
 
exchanges
 
for
 
the
 
purposes
 
of 
 
this
 
study.
 
My
 
analysis
 
will
 
draw
 
on
 
the
 
work
 
of 
 
John
 
Swales
 
on
 
discourse
 
communities,
 
Susan
 
Herring‘s
 
research
 
on
 
text
‐
based
 
computer
‐
mediated
 
discourse
 
(CMD)
 
and
 
Penelope
 
Brown
 
and
 
Steven
 
Levinson’s
 
models
 
of 
 
politeness
 
strategies.
 
2.
 
Discourse
 
communities
 
and
 
Facebook
 
According
 
to
 
John
 
Swales,
 
discourse
 
communities
 
are
 
defined
 
by
 
broadly
 
agreed
 
common
 
goals,
 
special
 
mechanisms
 
for
 
communication
 
and
 
participation
 
and
 
some
 
specialised
 
vocabulary
 
(1987
 
pp.5
‐
7).
 
Swales’
 
later
 
writing
 
(1990)
 
adds
 
a
 
further
 
level
 
of 
 
complexity,
 
arguing
 
that
 
a
 
discourse
 
community
 
is
 
not
 
simply
 
a
 
group
 
of 
 
people
 
who
 
share
 
a
 
particular
 
common
 
interest
 
and
 
forms
 
of 
 
communication,
 
but
 
one
 
whose
 
participation
 
is
 
delimited
 
by
 
that
 
community’s
 
discoursal
 
expectations.
 
Participation
 
within
 
the
 
environment
 
of 
 
a
 
particular
 
discourse
 
community
 
is
 
deemed
 
acceptable
 
only
 
insofar
 
as
 
it
 
conforms
 
to
 
the
 
underlying
 
rules
 
of 
 
the
 
game
 
(i.e.
 
how
 
things
 
are
 
done,
 
what
 
constitutes
 
appropriate
 
or
 
socially
 
desirable
 
behaviour)
 
of 
 
that
 
community.
 
Susan
 
Herring’s
 
work
 
on
 
CMD
 
is
 
potentially
 
useful
 
here
 
and
 
employs
 
the
 
term
 
‘norms’
 
(2007)
 
to
 
describe
 
behavioural
 
standards
 
and
 
linguistic
 
behaviour
 
specific
 
to
 
a
 
particular
 
group.
 
By
 
way
 
of 
 
example,
 
she
 
argues
 
that
 
empathy,
 
encouragement
 
and
 
support
 
are
 
expected
 
and
 
approved
 
of 
 
in
 
a
 
women’s
 
health
 
newsgroup
 
(e.g.
 
Stork 
 
Talk 
)
 
but
 
that
 
rudeness,
 
aggressiveness
 
and
 
profanity
 
are
 
expected
 
and
 
desirable
 
features
 
of 
 
the
 
alt.flame
 
newsgroup.
 
Joseph
 
Kayany’s
 
(1998)
 
earlier
 
research
 
on
 
flaming
 
adopted
 
a
 
similar
 
line,
 
arguing
 
that
 
intemperate
 
language
 
was
 
not
 
an
 
intrinsic
 
part,
 
or
 
inevitable
 
consequence,
 
of 
 
online
 
communication
 
but,
 
rather,
 
the
 
result
 
of 
 
particular
 
social
 
and
 
cultural
 
contexts.
 
The
 
Facebook
 
SNS
 
provides
 
a
 
convenient
 
environment
 
for
 
the
 
development
 
of 
 
discourse
 
communities
 
with
 
its
 
varied
 
participatory
 
mechanisms.
 
On
 
Facebook
 
users
 
create
 
their
 
personal
 
profile
 
page
 
allowing
 
them
 
to
 
list
 
interests
 
and
 
activities
 
they
 
share
 
with
 
others.
 
They
 
also
 
belong
 
to
 
a
 
‘Network’
 
defined
 
primarily
 
by
 
the
 
educational
 
institution
 
with
 
which
 
they
 
are,
 
or
 
have
 
been,
 
affiliated.
 
Communication
 
with
 
others
 
within
 
Facebook
 
takes
 
place
 
via
 
a
 
range
 
of 
 
tools
 
including
 
email,
 
discussion
 
boards,
 
uploaded
 
videos
 
and
 
picture
 
galleries
 
that
 
include
 
a
 
space
 
for
 
comments
 
and
 
a
 
‘wall’
 
in
 
which
 
users
 
can
 
exchange
 
messages
 
with
 
nominated
 
friends.
 
Other
 
popular
 
features
 
include
 
status
 
updates,
 
‘poking’
 
friends
 
(an
 
ambiguous
 
tool
 
but
 
one
 
of 
 
the
 
many
 
phatic
 
uses
 
of 
 
Facebook)
 
and
 
gift
‐
giving
 
(fish,
 
flowers
 
etc.).
 
Facebook
 
users
 
can
 
also
 
set
 
up
 
their
 
own
 
groups
 
which
 
they
 
make
 
public
 
or
 
else
 
invite
 
others
 
to
 
 join,
 
thereby
 
creating
 
highly
 
fluid
 
and
 
open
 
’community’
 
spaces
 
for
 
learning.
 
Of 
 
interest
 
to
 
this
 
study,
 
is
 
the
 
use
 
of 
 
Facebook
 
to
 
create
 
and
 
sustain
 
social
 
networking
 
communities
 
(SNCs).
 
I
 
want
 
to
 
argue
 
that
 
the
 
sorts
 
of 
 
SNCs
 
operating
 
within
 
Facebook
 
may
 
be
 
seen
 
as
 
distinct
 
online
 
discourse
 
communities
 
with
 
some,
 
admittedly
 
a
 
minority,
 
having
 
learning,
 
or
 
the
 
co
‐
production
 
of 
 
knowledge,
 
as
 
the
 
common
 
goal
 
or
 
interest.
 
Facebook
 
is
 
currently
 
the
 
platform
 
for
 
various
 
discourse
 
communities;
 
it
 
is
 
not
 
the
 
space
 
for
 
a
 
single
 
monolithic
 
one.
 
To
 
date,
 
thousands
 
of 
 
groups
 
exist
 
with
 
a
 
range
 
of 
 
common
 
interests
 
and
 
discoursal
 
expectations
 
or
 
norms.
 
Alongside
 
academic
 
groups
 
such
 
as
 
Teaching
 
&
 
Learning
 
with
 
Facebook 
 
whose
 
discoursal
 
norms
 
are
 
little
 
different
 
to
 
those
 
of 
 
an
 
of 00

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