Beyond bounded activity systems: heterogeneous cultures in instructional uses of persistent conversation

This paper proposes a two-level theoretical framework for the study of CMC illustrating the principles of mediation and contextual analysis. Based on log files and interviews from foreign language users of a University MOO environment, I propose that the process of becoming a competent member of digital speech communities effects the approaches participants take toward in-class electronic discussion. This study addresses the limitations of a bounded unit of analysis, e.g., focal events within a networked computer classroom, and attempts to demonstrate that a research framework which incorporates exogenous activity systems can more fully account for the focal activity system being researched.