Social negotiation as the basis of effective communication in video conferencing John Morgan

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

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

5. 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

6. 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

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

9. 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

10. 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”

11. 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…”

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

13. 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…”

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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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, 27th-29th June, 2007:    • Diverse Conference, Aberystwyth, dates June, 2009: link to follow

18. Acknowledgements The work presented here could not be done without the help of: Video conference participants EL27720 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

19. References • Baron, N.S. (1998). “Letters by Phone or Speech by Other Means: The Linguistics of E-mail”. • Language and Communication: 18, Pp.133-170. • Constable, G. (date not provided). “Guidelines for Successful Video Conferencing” [online]. • Available from: http://users.aber.ac.uk/ccc/vc-guidelines.pdf (Accessed 7th June, 2005). • Video Technology Advisory Service (date not provided). “UKERNA Video Conferencing • Meetings User Guide: A General Guide for Participants, Facilitators and Chairpersons” [online]. • Available from http://www.video.ja.net/usrg/ (Accessed 7th June, 2005). • Coles, M. & Hall, C. (2001). “Breaking the Line: New Literacies, Postmodernism and the Teaching • of Printed Texts”. Reading: November, Pp.111-114. Oxford: Blackwell. • Kress, G. & Van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of • Contemporary Communication. London: Arnold. • Lankshear, C. & Snyder, I. with Green, B. (2000). Teachers and Technoliteracy: Managing • Literacy, Technology and Learning in Schools. St. Leonards, Sydney: Allen and Unwin. • Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of Talk. Oxford: Blackwell. • Mercer, N. (2000). Words and Minds: How We Use Language to Think Together. London: • Routledge.