Mapping Conversation Patterns in the Asynchronous Classroom
Distance education via asynchronous learning networks (ALNs) is an increasingly common method of educational delivery. To add to a practical and academic understanding of asynchronous, computer-mediated communication this article reports a conversation analysis study to 'map the ground' of ALNs by identifying and describing conversation practices of ALN students in terms of conversation analytic structures of talk-in-interaction. Conclusions of the research indicate that ALN participants engage in discourse that resembles face-to-face (F2F) talk in substantive ways, and in some cases invent and implement communication techniques that serve to reconstruct features associated with synchronous interaction, including turn-taking, overlap, repairs and formulations. In this sense, asynchronous conversations in education are a special form of conversation (or 'talk-in-interaction,' as it is known in the literature) that is distinct from both classically 'written' forms of instruction, such as correspondence instruction methods and traditional face to face instruction.
Winiecki, Donald J.. (2012). "Mapping Conversation Patterns in the Asynchronous Classroom". International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(11), 10-28.
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