E-raamat: Digital English as a Lingua Franca: Shaping New Models through Question-and-Answer Websites

'Taronna's monograph is a very welcome original study of the ways in which different people express themselves and interact in synchronous computer-mediated communicative settings, with a particular emphasis on the languaging processes employed in establishing identity and fostering community ties. The many examples discussed, especially from the domain of question-and-answer websites, are illuminated from a comprehensive theoretical standpoint and help the reader appreciate the intricate genre-specific structures and moves involved. These data-driven accounts are convincingly tied together to describe what the author calls "Digital English as a Lingua Franca".'Nicos SifakisFull Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens'In our increasingly digital world, where communication is more and more mediated by computers and there is a strong need for developing emotional competence, the study of emotions in the sharing of knowledge through social media plays a key role in pedagogy as well as in our professional lives. Firmly grounded in theory and methodologically rigorous, the interdisciplinary research work presented in this book enhances our understanding of the challenges posed by computer-mediated communication and, in the long run, it helps us become judicious and responsible meaning makers.'Sara Laviosa, PhDFounder and Editor of Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts'The book features a comprehensive theoretical overview of issues of genre, linguistic and discursive features, as well as pragmatic strategies related to computer-mediated communication (CMC), and delves into the role of Digital English as a Lingua Franca (DELF) and its language politics. It then moves on to the case study, Q&A websites in general and Stack Exchange in particular. A mixed methodology based on sentiment analysis investigates the emotional styles of these websites, with the aim of understanding what determines a successful communication.'Dr Dora RennaResearch Fellow, University of Ferrara'Digital English as a Lingua Franca is a cutting-edge study that stems from an ambitious research project exploring emotions underlying Question and Answer websites. Itsmain objective is to identify and establish new models for sentiment analysis to be applied in the realm of online communication. [ ...] This book consists of four chapters examining the different facets of digital communication from a theoretical and practical perspective. The contents are thoroughly analysed and clearly exposed, which makes the text a useful resource for both expert and non-expert audiences.'Giovanni Tucci,Cross-Media Languages. Applied Research, Digital Tools and Methodologies'This volume represents a thorough analysis of DELF in two digital communities of Q&A websites, presenting in detail how linguistic and pragmalinguistic features are employed and their connections to emotion. As Taronna states, this book tries to expand research on DELF, supporting the need to further analyse the models and new genres that are typical of digital communication via English.'Monica Antonello, PhDResearch Fellow, University of Verona, Italy