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2004Sandra J. Savignon the Pennsylvania State University Waltraud Roithmeier Gymnasium Beilngries, Bavaria, Germany
This paper considers evidence of the collaborative construction of texts and the use of communication strategies in asynchronous computer-mediated exchanges. A classroom model of communicative competence (Savignon, 1983, 1997) provides the theoretical framework for discussion. The data consist of two bulletin board discussions between a class of German students of English in a Gymnasium and a class of US students of German in a Midwestern high school. The discussions were analyzed for evidence of the collaborative construction of text and context (Goodwin & Goodwin, 1992) and strategies used to sustain the collaboration. The analysis illustrates the cohesion of the postings on both a micro- and a macrolevel. The texts also offer evidence of participant use of strategies to mitigate potential conflict. As an opportunity for the interactive construction of both text and context, computermediated communication (Cmc) of the kind documented in this pilot study would appear to have potential for promoting intercultural exchange and participation in the interpretation, expression, and negotiation of meaning essential to the development of communicative competence. Analysis of such intercultural exchanges may also shed light on the process of communicative norm negotiation and stabilization. <strong>Keywords Collaborative Text Construction, Communication Strategies, Asynchronous Computermediated Communication
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Sandra J. Savignon and Waltraud Roithmeier Computer-mediated Communication: Texts and Strategies SANDRA J. SAVIGNON The Pennsylvania State University WALTRAUD ROITHMEIER Gymnasium Beilngries, Bavaria, Germany ABSTRACT This paper considers evidence of the collaborative construction of texts and the use of communication strategies in asynchronous computer-mediated exchanges. A classroom model of communicative competence (Savignon, 1983, 1997) provides the theoretical framework for discussion. The data consist of two bulletin board discussions between a class of German students of English in a Gymnasium and a class of US students of German in a Midwestern high school. The discussions were analyzed for evidence of the collaborative construction of text and context (Goodwin & Goodwin, 1992) and strategies used to sustain the collaboration. The analysis illustrates the cohesion of the postings on both a micro- and a macrolevel. The texts also offer evidence of participant use of strategies to mitigate potential conflict. As an opportunity for the interactive construction of both text and context, computermediated communication (CMC) of the kind documented in this pilot study would appear to have potential for promoting intercultural exchange and participation in the interpretation, expression, and negotiation of meaning essential to the development of communicative competence. Analysis of such intercultural exchanges may also shed light on the process of communicative norm negotiation and stabilization. KEYWORDS Collaborative Text Construction, Communication Strategies, Asynchronous Computermediated Communication INTRODUCTION From an early focus in the 1960s on sentence-level syntax, research in what is widely referenced as “native” language development has come increasingly to be concerned with discourse-level analysis of negotiation in defined contexts of situation. Research in second or foreign language learning has similarly expanded its focus to encompass the negotiation of meaning in culturally and socially mediated contexts. These contexts now include electronic communication environments. This pilot study looks at second language learning and peer collaboration in bulletin board discussions as an example of asynchronous intercultural comput