Open AccessMobile instant messaging: a bonanza for interlanguage pragmatics
Author(s) -
Bethany Aull
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
letrônica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1984-4301
DOI - 10.15448/1984-4301.2019.4.33885
Subject(s) - instant messaging , pragmatics , conversation , conversation analysis , computer science , emic and etic , interlanguage , intersection (aeronautics) , linguistics , psychology , communication , world wide web , sociology , engineering , philosophy , anthropology , aerospace engineering
While mobile communication technologies have been exploited for instructional second and foreign language (L2) research, authentic mobile instant messaging (MIM) interactions remain virtually unexamined. As a result, decidedly little is known about L2 users’ interlinguistic behavior in genuine MIM conversation. This type of communication may nevertheless be of interest to interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) research, particularly for what it may reveal about the intersection of cultures and electronically-mediated communities. This article traces the current state of related research and contemplates some preliminary conceptual and methodological considerations for future inquiries. It first reviews previous L1 and L2 studies involving mobile and instant messaging mediums. From among these, it notes two underexplored concepts which are relevant to ILP: namely, interculture and cultures-of-use. Respectively related to co-constructed culture and communities of practice, these aspects may shed light on and be illuminated by interlinguistic MIM interaction. Finally, the article looks to future investigations and, while not specifying analytical procedures, it recommends emic methods such as conversation analysis for examining these phenomena.