Abstract
Digital discourses, that is, texts and interactions in digitally mediated contexts, provide an additional site for applied linguistics research, presenting opportunities and challenges. This chapter begins by providing an overview of the unique affordances and constraints of digital tools and how such tools affect, among other things, the kinds of meanings we can make and the kinds of relationships we can have. The chapter examines important kinds of digital texts and interactions, having regard to (1) how the study of such digital discourses relates to key questions in applied linguistics and (2) how particular digital discourses can be studied, considering issues related to the collection and analysis of data. Common research methodologies used in this area are illustrated by reference to examples drawn from key studies.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Androutsopoulos, J., & Tereick, J. (2016). YouTube: Language and discourse practices in participatory culture. In A. Georgakopoulou & T. Spilioti (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of language and digital communication (pp. 355–370). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Angouri, J., & Sanderson, T. (2016). ‘You’ll find lots of help here’: Unpacking the function of an online Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) forum. Language & Communication, 46(1), 1–13.
Baldry, A., & Thibault, P. J. (2006). Multimodal transcription and text analysis. London: Equinox.
Bassett, E. H., & O’Riordan, K. (2002). Ethics of Internet research: Contesting the human subjects research model. Ethics and Information Technology, 4(3), 233.
Benson, P. (2015). Commenting to learn: Evidence of language and intercultural learning in comments on YouTube videos. Language Learning & Technology, 19(3), 88–105.
Giles, D., Stommel, W., Paulus, T., Lester, J., & Reed, D. (2015). Microanalysis of online data: The methodological development of “digital CA”. Discourse, Context & Media, 7, 45–51.
Hafner, C. A. (2013). Digital composition in a second or foreign language. TESOL Quarterly, 47(4), 830–834.
Hafner, C. A., Li, D. C. S., & Miller, L. (2015). Language choice among peers in project-based learning: A Hong Kong case study of English language learners’ plurilingual practices in out-of-class computer-mediated communication. Canadian Modern Language Review, 71(4), 441–470.
Herring, S. C. (1999). Interactional coherence in CMC. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 4(4).
Herring, S. C. (2004). Computer-mediated discourse analysis: An approach to researching online behaviour. In S. A. Barab, R. Kling, & J. H. Gray (Eds.), Designing for virtual communities in the service of learning (pp. 338–376). Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
Herring, S. C. (2007). A faceted classification scheme for computer-mediated discourse. Language@Internet, 4(1), 1–37.
Hudson, J. M., & Bruckman, A. (2004). “Go away”: Participant objections to being studied and the ethics of chatroom research. The Information Society, 20(2), 127–139.
Iedema, R. (2003). Multimodality, resemiotization: Extending the analysis of discourse as multi-semiotic practice. Visual Communication, 2(1), 29–57.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. New York: New York University Press.
Jones, R. H. (2002). The problem of context in computer mediated communication. In P. LeVine & R. Scollon (Eds.), Discourse and technology: Multimodal discourse analysis (pp. 20–33). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Jones, R. H. (2015). Discourse, cybernetics, and the entextualization of the self. In R. H. Jones, A. Chik, & C. A. Hafner (Eds.), Discourse and digital practices: Doing discourse analysis in the digital age (pp. 28–47). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Jones, R. H., & Hafner, C. A. (2012). Understanding digital literacies: A practical introduction. London: Routledge.
Lessig, L. (2004). Free culture: How big media uses technology and the law to lock down culture and control creativity. New York: Penguin Press.
Lockwood, J., & Forey, G. (2016). Discursive control and power in virtual meetings. Discourse & Communication, 10(4), 323–340.
Marwick, A. E., & boyd, d. m. (2011). I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience. New Media & Society, 13(1), 114–133.
O’Halloran, K. L., Tan, S., Smith, B. A., & Podlasov, A. (2013). Multimodal digital semiotics: The interaction of language with other resources. Text & Talk, 33(4–5), 665–690.
Page, R. (2016). Moving between the big and small: Identity and interaction in digital contexts. In A. Georgakopoulou & T. Spilioti (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of language and digital communication (pp. 403–407). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Paolillo, J. C. (2016). Network analysis. In A. Georgakopoulou & T. Spilioti (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of language and digital communication (pp. 36–54). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Recktenwald, D. (2017). Toward a transcription and analysis of live streaming on Twitch. Journal of Pragmatics, 115, 68–81.
Sinclair, J. M., & Coulthard, R. M. (1975). Towards an analysis of discourse: The English used by teachers and pupils. London: Oxford University Press.
Stenström, A. B. (2014). An introduction to spoken interaction. London: Routledge.
Thorne, S. L. (2003). Artifacts and cultures-of-use in intercultural communication. Language Learning & Technology, 7(2), 38–67.
Townley, A., & Jones, A. (2016). The role of emails and covering letters in negotiating a legal contract: A case study from Turkey. English for Specific Purposes, 44(1), 68–81.
Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the Internet. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Varis, P. (2016). Digital ethnography. In A. Georgakopoulou & T. Spilioti (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of language and digital communication (pp. 55–68). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Warschauer, M., Zheng, B., & Park, Y. (2013). New ways of connecting reading and writing. TESOL Quarterly, 47(4), 825–830.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hafner, C.A. (2018). Digital Discourses Research and Methods. In: Phakiti, A., De Costa, P., Plonsky, L., Starfield, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Applied Linguistics Research Methodology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59900-1_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59900-1_18
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-59899-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-59900-1
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)