Speech Communication 497B: Computer-Mediated Communication

Comments or Questions? Contact Steve Thorne, Pennsylvania State University
Week Date Themes, Readings, and Suggested Readings Activities/Notes
Week 1 1/09 Introductions, overview of the course, CMC themes and possibilities  
1/11

 

  1. Rheingold, Howard. (1993). The Virtual Community. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.

Recommended:

  1. Two very short articles for definitions of CMC:
Welcome, introductions, orientation to the course and course materials
Week 2 1/16 Themes 1 and 2: History of the Internet; CMC and (Virtual) Community
  1. "What is" the Internet from whatis.com:
  2. History of the Internet, by Bruce Sterling:
  3. Bennahum, David. (1994). Fly Me To the MOO: Adventures in Textual Reality. Lingua Franca 4/4 - May/June 1994.
  4. Wellman, Berry, & Gulia, Milena. (1999). Virtual Communities as Communities. In Mark Smith and Peter Kollock (eds.), Communities in Cyberspace. London: Routledge.
    • In reader

Recommended:

  1. Rheingold, Howard. (1993). The Virtual Community. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.

 

 

Internet and languages

 

Questions about the Internet? About various sorts of Internet communication tools? About on-line lingo and terminology? Visit our course Tools and Resources page!
1/18

 

  1. Weinreich, F. (1997). Establishing a point of view toward virtual communities. CMC Magazine.
  2. Jones, Q. (1997). Virtual-Communities, Virtual Settlements & Cyber-Archaeology: A Theoretical Outline. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 3/3. Available at:

Recommended (Special Topics: Using MOOs for writing and composition)

  1. Day, Michael. (1996). Pedagogies in Virtual Spaces: Writing Classes in the MOO.Kairos, 1/2.
  2. Harris, Leslie. (1996). Writing Spaces: Using MOOs to Teach Composition and Literature. Kairos, 1/2.

Lab session in 69 Willard: Using MOOs in educational contexts.
Week 3 1/23
  1. Erickson, Thomas. (1997). Social Interaction on the Net: Virtual Community as Participatory Genre. In Proceedings of the Thirtieth Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science. (ed. J. F. Nunamaker, Jr. R. H. Sprague, Jr.) Vol 6, pp. 23-30. IEEE Computer Society Press: Los Alamitos, CA, 1997. Available on-line at:
  2. Jones, Steven. (1998). Information, Internet, and Community: Notes Toward an Understanding of Community in the Information Age. In Steven Jones (ed.), Cybersociety 2.0. London: Sage Publications.
    • In reader

Recommended:

  1. Liu, G. (1999). Virtual Community Presence in Internet Relay Chatting. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 5/1.
  2. Robin Hamman, Alan Sondheim, Howard Rheingold, John Suler, Ph.D., Moderator. (2000). Developing Online Communities.Behavior Online Chat Events, March 25, 2000.

What are the relationships between psychogical well-being, involvement, and Internet use? For a perspective, see:

Kraut, R. et al. (2000). Internet Paradox: A Social Technology That Reduces Social Involvement and Psychological Well-Being? American Psychologist, Volume 55, Number 12.
1/25 Theme 3: Linguistic, Descriptive, and Communication Perspectives on CMC
  1. Dibble, Julian. (1995). 2 Cute 4 Words: In Defense of the Smiley. The Village Voice, October 4, 1994.
  2. Donath, Judith, Karrie Karahalios and Fernanda Viegas. (1999). Visualizing Conversation. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication 4 (4) June 1999.
  3. Herring, Susan. (1996). Introduction. In Susan Herring (ed.), Computer-mediated communication: Linguistic, social and cross-cultural perspectives. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
    • In reader
  4. Herring, Susan. (1999). Interactional coherence in CMC. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 4 (4) June 1999.

Recommended:

  1. Bregman, Alvan, & Haythornthwaite, Caroline. (2001). Radicals of Presentation in Persistent Conversation. Published in the Proceedings of the Hawai'i International Conference On System Sciences, January 3-6, 2001, Maui, Hawaii.
  2. Paulillo, J. (1999). The Virtual Speech Community: Social Network and Language Variation on IRC. JCMC 4 (4).
 
Week 4 1/30
  1. Werry, C. (1996). Linguistic and interactional features of Internet Relay Chat. In Susan Herring (ed.), Computer-mediated communication: Linguistic, social and cross-cultural perspectives. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
    • In reader
  2. Yates, S. (1996). Oral and written aspects of computer conferencing. In Susan Herring (ed.), Computer-mediated communication: Linguistic, social and cross-cultural perspectives. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
    • In Reader
  3. Johanyak, M. (1997). Analyzing the amalgamated electronic text: Bringing cognitive, social, and contextual factors of individual language users into CMC research. Computers and Composition 14, 91-110.
    • In Reader

Recommended:

  1. Yates, Simeon, & Sumner, Tamara. (1997). Digital Genres and the New Burden of Fixity. In Proceedings of the International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 97), Special Track on Genres in Digital Documents, Maui, HA, pages Vol. VI, pp. 3-12.
  2. Collot, Milena, & Belmore, Nancy. (1996). Electronic Language: A New Variety of English. In Susan Herring (ed.), Computer-Mediated Communication: Linguistic, Social, and Cross-Cultural Perspectives. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
    • In Reader
  3. Walther, J. B., Anderson, J. F., & Park, D. W. (1994). Interpersonal effects in computer-mediated interaction: A meta-analysis of social and anti-social communication. Communication Research, 21/4, 460-487.
    • In reader
 Check here for an introduction to the ideas of MAK Halliday and Systemic-Functional Linguistics
2/01 Theme 4: Presentation of Sel/f/ves and the Internet
  1. Turke, Sherry. (1996). Who Am We? Wired, 4, 1, January 1996.
  2. Carlson, Scott. (1999). An On-Line 'Quiz Show' Uses the Anonymity of the Internet to Reveal Biases. Chronicle of Higher Education, Wednesday, September 15, 1999.

Recommended:

  1. Turke, Sherry. (1995). Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. New York: Simon and Schuster.
 Lab session in 64 Willard
Week 5 2/06
  1. Donath, Judith. (1999). Identity and Deception in the Virtual Environment. In Marc Smith and Peter Kollock (eds.), Communities in Cyberspace. New York: Routledge.
    • In reader
  2. Turkle, Sherry. (1998). Interivew with Katie Hafner: At Heart of a Cyberstudy, the Human Essence. New York Times, June 18, 1998.
 
2/08
  1. Bays, H. (1999). Framing and face in Internet exchanges: A socio-cognitive approach.
  2. Walther, Joseph. (1996). Computer-Mediated Communication: Impersonal, Interpersonal, and Hyperpersonal Interaction. Communication Research 23/1: 3-43.
    • In reader

Recommended:

  1. Wynn, Eleanor, & Katz, James. Hyperbole over Cyberspace: Self-presentation & Social Boundaries in Internet Home Pages and Discourse. The Information Society, An International Journal, 13(4): 297-328.
  2. Waskul, D., & Douglass, M. (1997). Cyberself: The Emergence of Self in On-Line Chat. Information Society 13/4: 375-397. Find this article on-line through the link below.

http://angelina.catchword.com/vl=30588526/cl=141/nw=1/fm=docpdf/rpsv/catchword/tandf/01972243/v13n4/s5/p375

  
Week 6 2/13 Theme 5: Power, CMC, and the Internet
  1. Spears, Russell, & Lee, Martin. (1994). Panacea or Panopticon? The Hidden Power in Computer-Mediated Communication. Communication Research 21/4: 427-459.
    • In reader
  2. Dibble, Julian. (1993). A Rape in Cyberspace (Or TINYSOCIETY, and How to Make One). The Village Voice, December 23, 1993.

Recommended:

  1. Postmes, Tom, Spears, Russell, & Lea, Martin. (1998). Breaching or Building Social Boundaries? SIDE-Effects of Computer-Mediated Communication. Communication Research, 25/6: 689-715.
    • In reader
  
2/15 Theme 6: CMC and (Location Independent) Education
  1. Bourne, J. R., McMaster, E., Rieger, J. & Campbell, J. O. (1999). Paradigms for on-line learning: A case study in the design and implementation of an asynchronous learning networks (ALN) course. Journal of Asychronous Learning Networks, 1 (2).
Lab session in 64 Willard
Week 7 2/20
  1. Chester, Andrea, & Gwynne, Gillian. (1998). Online Teaching: Encouraging Collaboration through Anonymity. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 4 (2) December 1998.
  2. Muirhead, Brent. (2000). Enhancing Social Interaction in Computer-Mediated Distance Education: Moderator and Summarizer: Brent Muirhead. Educational Technology & Society 3(4).
  3. Noble, D. (1998). Digital diploma mills: The automation of higher education.
 
2/22
  1. Wegerif, Rupert. (1998). The Social Dimension of Asynchronous Learning Networks. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, Volume 2, Issue 1.
Internet Use Project Due, + class discussion of results
Week 8 2/27 Theme 7: CMC and Language Education
  1. Janangelo, J. (1991). Technopower and technoppression: Some abuses of power and control in computer-assisted writing environments. Computers and Composition 9/1: 47-63.
  2. Warschauer, M. (1999). Chapter 1: Introduction: Surveying the Terrain of Literacy. In Electronic literacies: Language, culture, and power in online education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Recommended (Special Topic: Technology and Language Revitalization):

  1. Warschauer, M. (1998). Technology and indigenous language revitalization: Analyzing the experience of Hawai'i. Canadian Modern Language Review, 55(1), 140-161.
 
3/01
  1. Kern, R. G. (1995). Restructuring Classroom Interaction with Networked Computers: Effects on Quantity and Characteristics of Language Production. Modern Language Journal 79/4:457-476.
    • In reader
  2. Knobel, M., Lankshear, C., Honan, E., Crawford, J. (1998). The wired world of second- language education. In I. Snyder (ed.), Page to screen: Taking literacy into the electronic era. New York: Routledge, p. 20-50.
    • In reader

Recommended:

  1. Ortega, L. (1997). Processes and outcomes in networked classroom interaction: Defining the research agenda for L2 computer-assisted classroom discussion. Language Learning & Technology, 1/1: 82-93.
  2. Kern, R., & Warschauer, M. (2000). Theory and practice of network-based language teaching. In M. Warschauer & R. Kern (Eds.), Network-based language teaching: Concepts and practice (pp. 1-19). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Lab session in 64 Willard

Spring

Break

 3/06 No class  
3/08 No class  
Week 9 3/13 Theme 8: CMC & Organizations, Business and Commerce
  1. Ahuja, M., & Carley, K. (1998). Network Structure in Virtual Organizations. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 3 (4) June 1998.
  2. Yates, J. and Orlikowski, W. J. (1992). Genres of Organizational Communication: A Structurational Approach to Studying Communication and Media. Academy of Management Review, Vol. 17, No. 2, 299-326, 1992.
    • In reader
 Outline/lit review due for Final Project
3/15

Recommended:

  1. Grabowski, M., & Roberts, K. (1998). Risk Mitigation in Virtual Organizations. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 3 (4), June 1998.
  2. Kiesler, S. & Sproull, L. (1992). Group decision making and communication technology. Organization Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 52, 96-123.
    • In reader
  3. Hagel, John III and Armstrong, Arthur G. (1996). The Real Value of On-Line Communities. Harvard Business Review, May-June, 1996.
    • In reader
 Lab session in 64 Willard
Week 10 3/20 Theme 9: Various Case Studies and CMC Contexts

A study of the longitudinal use of synchronous and asynchronous CMC in the workplace:

  1. Erickson, T. (1999). Making Sense of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC): Conversations as Genres, CMC Systems as Genre Ecologies.

Description and analysis of "All My Childern" soap opera newsgroup:

  1. Baym, Nancy. (1995). From Practice to Culture on Usenet. In Susan Leigh Star (ed), The Cultures of Computing. Oxford, UK.: Blackwell Publishers/The Sociological Review.
    • In reader
  
3/22

CMC and the processes of publishing:

  1. Ann Light and Yvonne Rogers. (1999). Conversation as Publishing: The Role of News Forums on the Web. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication 4 (4).

An analysis of the concept and important of trust for virtual organizations:

  1. Jarvenpaa, Sirkka, & Leidner, Dorothy. (1998). Communication and Trust in Global Virtual Teams. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 3 (4).
 
Week 11 3/27 Theme 10: Gender, Ethnicity, Sexuality, and CMC
  1. Burkhalter, Byron. (1998). Reading Race Online: Discovering racial identity in Usenet discussions. In Marc Smith and Peter Kollock (eds.), Communities in Cyberspace. New York: Routledge.
    • In reader
  2. Egan, Jennifer. (2000). Lonely Gay Teen Seeking Same: How Jeffrey found friendship, sex, heartache / and himself / online. New York Times Magazine: 10 December, 2000.
  3. Herring, Susan. (1996). Two variants of an electronic message schema. In Susan Herring (ed.), Computer-mediated communication: Linguistic, social and cross-cultural perspectives. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
    • In reader
  
3/29
  1. Rodino, M. (1997). Breaking out of binaries: Reconceptualizing gender and its relationship to language in computer-mediated communication. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 3 (3).
  2. Cohen, Joyce. (2001). On the Net, Love Really Is Blind. New York Times, 18 January, 2001.

Recommended:

  1. Deuel, Nancy. (1996). Our passionate response to virtual reality. In Susan Herring (ed.), Computer-mediated communication: Linguistic, social and cross-cultural perspectives. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
  2. Hall, Kira. (1996). Cyberfeminism. In Susan Herring (ed.), Computer-mediated communication: Linguistic, social and cross-cultural perspectives. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
  3. Haraway, D. (1991). A cyborg manifesto: Science, technology and socialist-feminism in the late twentieth century. In Donna Haraway: Siminas, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. London: Free Association Books.
  4. Stone, Allucquere Rosanne. (1995). Sex and death among the disembodied: VR, cyberspace, and the nature of academic discourse. In S.L. Star (ed.), The Cultures of Computing. Cambridge, MA.: Blackwell Publishers.
 Lab session in 64 Willard
Week 12 4/03 Theme 11: Doing Research on CMC and the Internet
  1. December, John. (1996). Units of Analysis for Internet Communication. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 1 (4), March 1996.
  2. Thorne, S. (2000). Beyond Bounded Activity Systems: Heterogeneous Cultures in Instructional Uses of Persistent Conversation. Proceedings of the Thirty-Third Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (CD-ROM), IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos, CA., 2000.
  3. Newhagen, John; & Rafaeli, Sheizaf. (1996). Why Communication Researchers Should Study the Internet: A Dialogue. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 1 (4), March 1996.
 
4/05
  1. Jones, Steve (ed.) (1999). Doing Research on the Internet. London: Sage Publications.
  2. Miller, Daniel, and Slater, Don. (2000). The Internet: An Ethnographic Approach. New York: Berg Publishers.

Recommended:

  1. Garton, Laura; Haythornthwaite, Caroline; and Wellman, Barry. (1997). Studying Online Social Networks. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 3 (1) June 1997.
 
Week 13 4/10 Theme 12: Political and Philosophical Views of CMC and the Internet
  1. Brown, John S., Duguid, Paul. (2000). The Social Life of Information. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
  2. Nardi, Bonnie, & OĠDay, Vicki. (1999). Information Ecologies: Using Technology with Heart. Cambridge, MA.: MIT Press.
  3. Lanier, Jaron. (2000). One Half Of A Manifesto. Edge 74 Ñ September 25, 2000
  4. Poster, Mark. CyberDemocracy: Internet and the Public Sphere.
  5. Jones, Steven. (1997). The Internet and its Social Landscape. In Steven Jones (ed.), Virtual Culture: Identity and Communication in Cybersociety. London: Sage Publications.

 

  
4/12 AERA: Steve gone, preparation time for final projects and presentations Lab session in 64 Willard
Week 14 4/17 Course overview and recap  
4/19 Student presentations  
Week 15 4/24 Student presentations  
4/26 Student presentations and course wrap-up (Possible) lab session in Willard

Course Links for Speech Communication 497B, Spring 2001

SpCom 497B Description and Requirements | CMC Topics, Issues, and News | CMC Journals, Resources, and Tools

Comments or Questions? Contact Steve Thorne, The Pennsylvania State University