A comparative discourse analysis of output produced by learners of German in a chatroom and a face -to -face discussion group, and its potential implications for foreign language instruction

The purpose of this research project is to contrast written German discourse as it was produced by 63 learners of German as a foreign language in 4 th semester German in a synchronous computer-mediated communication environment, i.e. in a chatroom, with the oral discourse produced by 63 learners of German in a small group face-to-face discussion groups. This study uses a variety of measurements to better describe and define the language produced in chatrooms and face-to-face discussion groups. First, the level of participation is measured by coding the data with communication-units, or c-units. The final statistical analysis indicated that the different levels of participation in the chatroom and the face-to-face discussions were significantly different. Second, this study hypothesizes that the output produced in real-time synchronous computer-mediated communication constitutes a new type of orality in a virtual world, a hybrid between spoken and written discourse. Communication in a chatroorn environment allows students to write as they would speak. The written output produced in a chatroom during this experiment shows features of oral language. The term virtual orality describes this type of orality in a virtual space. Virtual orality is derived from Walter Ong's secondary orality, which delineates an orality that is produced by speakers in our society who have the awareness and consciousness of literacy, i.e. they live in a society that is knowledgeable of and influenced by writing. In the third part of this study, the Type-Token Ratio is used to measure the variety of different words in relation to the total number of words produced. In an effort to determine the language level of the students, this study uses a scale of language stages as they are described by Erwin Tschirner, followed by an analysis of verb morphology, and attributive and predicative adjectives. The last chapter asks if and how computer-mediated communication can be productively employed in a foreign language teaching environment. Tentative recommendations about the use of real-time computer-mediated communication and face-to-face discussion groups for instructors conclude this study.