Social negotiation as the basis of effective communication

Social negotiation as the basis of effective communication in video conferencing John Morgan University of Wales Aberystwyth http: //users. aber. ac. uk/jpm jpm@aber. ac. uk http: //www. video. funet. fi/conference/abs/John_Morgan_web. pdf

From discourse to community • The basis of education and learning • Idealised transfer of knowledge • Literacy as a singular concept • Changes and challenges with increasing diversity have been embraced in education • Focus on multiple literacies and literacy practices in education today

Contrast with higher education • Higher education is more traditional in its consideration of what is appropriate in academic communication • Despite this, there is an increasing focus on team work, presentations and project work, which leads to types of student interaction that require greater social negotiation • Widening participation and internationalisation are also creating the need to vary patterns of communication, learning and assessment

From discourse to community Discourse communities Emphasis on conformity Forms shared background knowledge Ideas articulated formally Justification through conformity Communities of practice Emphasis on differences Shapes shared background knowledge Ideas negotiated socially as a comparison and possible contrast Justification through negotiated agreement

Challenges for higher education • In UK HE there is an increasing need to train students in “transferable skills”, which will facilitate greater career prospects prior to graduation • Changing patterns of interaction, task types, and diversity are also brought together through the need to embrace new communications media in learning • Video conferencing offers new opportunities for social negotiation of academic tasks

Video conferencing in the classroom • Research conducted in classroom settings with international students • Extended into Leonardo da Vinci funded Invite Project between Masaryk University, University of Castellon, four SME partners in Italy, Slovakia and the Czech Republic and the University of Wales Aberystwyth • Pilot projects include current students at MU and UWA

Communities of practice • Shared history new VC participants may not have a distinct sense of shared history • Collective identity some elements of e. g. being students can give a sense of collective identity, but specific aspects may be very different • Reciprocal obligations at this level of mutual awareness new communities can bond more easily • Discourse the patterns of interaction that emerge may vary significantly from group to group Based on Mercer (2000)

Negotiating design Establishing reciprocal obligations in and across community groups through… • social & cultural factors • operational & technical dimensions • language & negotiation strategies …leads to a greater more subtle awareness of collective identity and shared history: a discourse emerges

Video extract 1 (3: 00) Social negotiation of appropriacy of response to avoid exclusion or feelings of inadequate response “In my opinion there is no correct answer, or any answer can be correct” “I think there’s something to be said for both answers”

Video extract 2 (2: 28) Covering technical and operational difficulties with summary of video interview as a plan B transition “We made a video…” “We don’t hear a thing…” “It was an interview, it was about a Turkish restaurant… Maybe we can move on…”

Video extract 3 (5: 14) Negotiating the focus of a follow-up video conference from spontaneous responses to discussion “The question is if there any Muslims from the former Yugoslavia… [in the Czech Republic]” “If you are interested I am able to ask them”

Video extract 4 (2: 12) Follow-up from previous video conference with further information chosen for partner audience interests “We are doing it just for fun and for discussion and to practice our English skills” “Last time you enjoyed discussing the earth’s population’s limit, so I found some information… I found a UN report…”

Negotiation & design as VC literacies • Discourse communities problem solving, Empowers critical Communities of practice which leads to assertive design Emphasis on differences Emphasis on conformity • Encourages audience awareness in relation to social features of discourse Shapes shared Forms shared background knowledge communities of communities and background knowledge practice Ideas negotiated Ideas articulated formally • Activates strategies socially as a comparison for transferability of and possible contrast skills • Justification through Facilitates acquisition of appropriate Justification through negotiated agreement conformity socio-cultural and literacy practices

From academic to professional • Negotiation and design strategies work very well as transferable skills between academic and professional life • Acquisition of strategies allows participants to individualise communication for specific audiences and partners • This works with students and is also being used as the basis for developing a training programme for the Invite Project

Continuing research • The next stage of theoretical work in the Invite Project is to analyse and code numerous hours of video recordings • The samples will initially be analysed from • • language & negotiation perspectives social & cultural factors operational & technical dimensions The results will inform development of project materials for professional purposes, which can be adapted to any educational setting

Working papers and conference links • Welsh Video Network Conference, Aberystwyth, 2005: • Diverse Conference, Glasgow, 2006: • Invite Project web site: • Live Sociology photographic essay: • Diverse Conference, Lillehammer, 27 th-29 th June, 2007: • Diverse Conference, Aberystwyth, dates June, 2009: link to follow

Acknowledgements The work presented here could not be done without the help of: Video conference participants EL 27720 students, University of Wales Aberystwyth English language students, Masaryk University, Brno Invite Project partners in the Czech Republic, Spain & UK Hana Katrnakova, Masaryk University, Brno Alena Hradilová, Masaryk University, Brno Libor Štěpánek, Masaryk University, Brno Barbora Budiková, Masaryk University, Brno Santiago Posteguillo, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón Janice de Haaff, UWA Technical support team in Aberystwyth: Tom Fernandez, Information Services, UWA Nigel Thomas, Information Services, UWA Martin Pugh, Information Services, UWA Geoff Constable, Welsh Video Network & Information Services, UWA

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