Repetition as Artifact Generation in Polyphonic CSCL Chats

Abstract

Discourse has a main role in the joint knowledge building in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). Repetition of words and phrases, as Deborah Tannen, remarked is a mean for inducing involvement and, respectively, cohesion in discourse. Words and phrases may thus become artifacts helping participants change arguments in their debates and solve problems. The paper presents an analysis of repetition of key words and phrases vis a vis debates and negociation in CSCL chats starting from the polyphonic model.