Sylvia Jones

Centre for Language and Communication, Faculty of Language and Education, Open University

Solidarity and Stance: learning to argue on-line and off

Issues of multi-modal literacy and register are addressed in this application of S.F.L. methodology to a comparison of the argumentation of students in two very different contexts, mediated by different technologies. This study investigates how students taking an Open University Diploma in Management argue in asynchronous email conferences and subsequently argue in individually written academic assignments.

This Diploma in Management course is designed to encourage on-line discussion on the premise that students learn by engaging in argument. Likewise, the subsequent single-authored assignments also require that students engage in argument. Yet, differences in context, together with the influences of the technology on communication, sculpture the interactions differently between the two modes of communication.

Theme/rheme analysis is used to investigate how the students negotiate the different literacy requirements of each environment to produce forms of argumentation appropriate to each situation. The study reveals differences in patterns of interaction and interpersonal positioning between the two modes. These differences influence how the students make their claims negotiable and how they build their arguments. In spite of these differences the findings suggest ways in which the on-line argumentation contributes to the argumentation in the students' written assignments.