Who are you, anyway? Exploring communicative presence and its evolution
This session explores the evolution of communicative presence (Chambers, 2012) for English language teachers participating in an online professional development program. Communicative presence is introduced as the overall realization of the online persona or digital identity individuals project both intentionally and unintentionally through online engagement with others. As communication technologies, including social media, evolve and become increasingly commonplace within our personal and professional lives, we are challenged to represent a social or digital identity to others and to interpret the identity of others via electronic discourse whether, for example, through social media platforms or through a learning management system. The impact of online interaction for presenting and interpreting identity from communicative presence is growing in importance, particularly in the field of distance education wherein courses, whether professional development opportunities for English language instructors or courses for English language learners, often attract an international audience who invest diverse social, cultural, and linguistic capitals (Bourdieu, 1986, 1991) within their online exchanges.
An understanding of the elements comprising communicative presence and its evolution is informed by a mixed methods study conducted within four online asynchronous learning communities. The research participants, a cohort of in-service English language teachers, represented diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Three data sources for triangulation were examined: text-based threaded discussion forum postings, an online interview with participants and the instructor, and an e-survey administered to learners upon completion of the courses. Social network analysis was used to identify patterning in the communicative interactions of the learning community. Selected text-based communications representing the beginning, middle, and end stages of each course were analyzed using phasal analysis (Gregory, 2002; Malcolm, 2010) to gather sociolinguistic evidence to inform the formation and evolution of communicative presence. Finally, interview data was analyzed to identify emergent themes reflecting participants’ perspectives of their online experiences. The patterning of the participants’ communicative interactions together with evidence from the discourse analysis and the perspectives of the participants contributed findings to explain how individuals use language to nuance communicative presence. Findings from the study suggest that communicative presence is informed by elements of digital identity (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000; Norton, 2013, Pratt, 1996), digital literacy (Commission of the European Communities, 2005; Glister, 1997; Martin, 2006), sociocultural sensitivity (Brown & Levinson, 1978; 1987; Byram, 1997; Goffman, 1956; Grice, 1975) and communicative strategies (Bachman & Palmer, 1996; Douglas, 2000).
The presentation will introduce the elements of communicative presence and provide examples of communicative exchanges to explain its evolution. Next, a set of key pedagogiCALL practices and recommendations for promoting and building an online community of learners (Bikowski & Kessler, 2002; Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000; Garrison, 2011) who represent diverse backgrounds and experiences will be discussed. Recognizing the evolving norms and practices of an online community via the constituent elements of communicative presence provides a view of the health of an online learning community. Communicative presence provides instructors with a pedagogical tool to identify how learners linguistically strategize for the purpose of interacting and collaborating with others and a tool to diagnose challenges when communications breakdown. The goal of promoting a healthy online community is to maximize the affordances provided by CMC-based language programming and curriculum.
This session explores the evolution of communicative presence (Chambers, 2012) for English language teachers participating in an online professional development program. Communicative presence is introduced as the overall realization of the online persona or digital identity individuals project both intentionally and unintentionally through online engagement with others. As communication technologies, including social media, evolve and become increasingly commonplace within our personal and professional lives, we are challenged to represent a social or digital identity to others and to interpret the identity of others via electronic discourse whether, for example, through social media platforms or through a learning management system. The impact of online interaction for presenting and interpreting identity from communicative presence is growing in importance, particularly in the field of distance education wherein courses, whether professional development opportunities for English language instructors or courses for English language learners, often attract an international audience who invest diverse social, cultural, and linguistic capitals (Bourdieu, 1986, 1991) within their online exchanges.
An understanding of the elements comprising communicative presence and its evolution is informed by a mixed methods study conducted within four online asynchronous learning communities. The research participants, a cohort of in-service English language teachers, represented diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Three data sources for triangulation were examined: text-based threaded discussion forum postings, an online interview with participants and the instructor, and an e-survey administered to learners upon completion of the courses. Social network analysis was used to identify patterning in the communicative interactions of the learning community. Selected text-based communications representing the beginning, middle, and end stages of each course were analyzed using phasal analysis (Gregory, 2002; Malcolm, 2010) to gather sociolinguistic evidence to inform the formation and evolution of communicative presence. Finally, interview data was analyzed to identify emergent themes reflecting participants’ perspectives of their online experiences. The patterning of the participants’ communicative interactions together with evidence from the discourse analysis and the perspectives of the participants contributed findings to explain how individuals use language to nuance communicative presence. Findings from the study suggest that communicative presence is informed by elements of digital identity (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000; Norton, 2013, Pratt, 1996), digital literacy (Commission of the European Communities, 2005; Glister, 1997; Martin, 2006), sociocultural sensitivity (Brown & Levinson, 1978; 1987; Byram, 1997; Goffman, 1956; Grice, 1975) and communicative strategies (Bachman & Palmer, 1996; Douglas, 2000).
The presentation will introduce the elements of communicative presence and provide examples of communicative exchanges to explain its evolution. Next, a set of key pedagogiCALL practices and recommendations for promoting and building an online community of learners (Bikowski & Kessler, 2002; Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000; Garrison, 2011) who represent diverse backgrounds and experiences will be discussed. Recognizing the evolving norms and practices of an online community via the constituent elements of communicative presence provides a view of the health of an online learning community. Communicative presence provides instructors with a pedagogical tool to identify how learners linguistically strategize for the purpose of interacting and collaborating with others and a tool to diagnose challenges when communications breakdown. The goal of promoting a healthy online community is to maximize the affordances provided by CMC-based language programming and curriculum.