| Does Internet mediation of language-based social interaction change the activity of communication? Current research approaches to the study of synchronous CmC address this or similar questions by focusing either on a linguistic or a sociological unit of analysis. In this study I take an activity theoretical approach and attempt to show an instance of the dynamics linking micro interactional activity and macro social and cultural structures. Specifically, this project examines two levels of University French foreign language instruction and students' in-class use of synchronous computer-mediated communication (a MOO environment). My data include transcripts (log files) of on-line interaction, fully transcribed in-depth interviews with students, and two semesters of in-lab observation. This dissertation comprises research in the areas of computer-mediated communication (CmC), technology enhanced foreign language learning, second language acquisition theory, and sociocultural theory.;In this study, the analysis of human activity mediated by artifacts distinguishes the "genotype" of an artifact's basic materiality from its "phenotype", or observable characteristics in contextualized use. The genotype analysis focuses primarily on describing the relationship between synchronous CmC and specific forms of communicative activity, while the phenotype analysis documents L2 users' portrayals (through interviews) of on-line communication and suggests that acculturation into digital speech communities affects the way L2 users approach synchronous CmC in instructional settings. This genotype-phenotype model acts as a heuristic for interpreting synchronous CmC on multiple levels that takes into account close analysis of the interactions themselves (the focus of Chapter 5) and the participants' personal histories, everyday practices, and reflections on digital communication (the themes of Chapter 6). This study addresses the limitations of a bounded unit of analysis, e.g., focal events within a networked computer classroom, and attempts to demonstrate that a research framework which incorporates exogenous activity systems can more fully account for the focal activity system being researched. |
