Instant messaging apps

This paper analyses the effects of interaction via Microsoft Teams private chat on Post Foundation students' writing skills. The current study was conducted at the University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Al Musannah, Oman, during the Spring of the Academic Year 2022-23. Of the sixty students registered for the Technical Writing course, twenty were selected as the purposive sample for this study as they were very active in using the Microsoft Teams private chat messaging app to interact with their teachers and peers. A qualitative approach was adopted to conduct a thematic analysis of the writing samples; hence, the participants were asked to send emails on different topics related to their course and instructed to use MS Teams private chat for interaction with their teacher and peers outside class hours. The thematic analysis of the emails was carried out in terms of formality, grammar, tone, word choice and context using a software package called QDA Miner Lite. The researchers found that students used abbreviations, shortened words, acronyms, slang, and emoticons for interaction through MS Teams private chat. However, they were very cautious in using formal and standard language in writing emails. Informal language and colloquial expressions were not found in their formal emails and academic writing, indicating that they were aware of the context and use of appropriate language. The researchers conclude that extensive social interaction on MS Teams private chat can significantly contribute to learners' communication skills without negatively impacting their academic English. Therefore, this study recommends the judicious integration of social media apps into English language courses to enhance ESL learners' communication skills.

This paper analyses the effects of interaction via Microsoft Teams private chat on Post Foundation students' writing skills. The current study was conducted at the University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Al Musannah, Oman, during the Spring of the Academic Year 2022-23. Of the sixty students registered for the Technical Writing course, twenty were selected as the purposive sample for this study as they were very active in using the Microsoft Teams private chat messaging app to interact with their teachers and peers. A qualitative approach was adopted to conduct a thematic analysis of the writing samples; hence, the participants were asked to send emails on different topics related to their course and instructed to use MS Teams private chat for interaction with their teacher and peers outside class hours. The thematic analysis of the emails was carried out in terms of formality, grammar, tone, word choice and context using a software package called QDA Miner Lite. The researchers found that students used abbreviations, shortened words, acronyms, slang, and emoticons for interaction through MS Teams private chat. However, they were very cautious in using formal and standard language in writing emails. Informal language and colloquial expressions were not found in their formal emails and academic writing, indicating that they were aware of the context and use of appropriate language. The researchers conclude that extensive social interaction on MS Teams private chat can significantly contribute to learners' communication skills without negatively impacting their academic English. Therefore, this study recommends the judicious integration of social media apps into English language courses to enhance ESL learners' communication skills.

This paper analyses the effects of interaction via Microsoft Teams private chat on Post Foundation students' writing skills. The current study was conducted at the University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Al Musannah, Oman, during the Spring of the Academic Year 2022-23. Of the sixty students registered for the Technical Writing course, twenty were selected as the purposive sample for this study as they were very active in using the Microsoft Teams private chat messaging app to interact with their teachers and peers. A qualitative approach was adopted to conduct a thematic analysis of the writing samples; hence, the participants were asked to send emails on different topics related to their course and instructed to use MS Teams private chat for interaction with their teacher and peers outside class hours. The thematic analysis of the emails was carried out in terms of formality, grammar, tone, word choice and context using a software package called QDA Miner Lite. The researchers found that students used abbreviations, shortened words, acronyms, slang, and emoticons for interaction through MS Teams private chat. However, they were very cautious in using formal and standard language in writing emails. Informal language and colloquial expressions were not found in their formal emails and academic writing, indicating that they were aware of the context and use of appropriate language. The researchers conclude that extensive social interaction on MS Teams private chat can significantly contribute to learners' communication skills without negatively impacting their academic English. Therefore, this study recommends the judicious integration of social media apps into English language courses to enhance ESL learners' communication skills.

This paper analyses the effects of interaction via Microsoft Teams private chat on Post Foundation students' writing skills. The current study was conducted at the University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Al Musannah, Oman, during the Spring of the Academic Year 2022-23. Of the sixty students registered for the Technical Writing course, twenty were selected as the purposive sample for this study as they were very active in using the Microsoft Teams private chat messaging app to interact with their teachers and peers. A qualitative approach was adopted to conduct a thematic analysis of the writing samples; hence, the participants were asked to send emails on different topics related to their course and instructed to use MS Teams private chat for interaction with their teacher and peers outside class hours. The thematic analysis of the emails was carried out in terms of formality, grammar, tone, word choice and context using a software package called QDA Miner Lite. The researchers found that students used abbreviations, shortened words, acronyms, slang, and emoticons for interaction through MS Teams private chat. However, they were very cautious in using formal and standard language in writing emails. Informal language and colloquial expressions were not found in their formal emails and academic writing, indicating that they were aware of the context and use of appropriate language. The researchers conclude that extensive social interaction on MS Teams private chat can significantly contribute to learners' communication skills without negatively impacting their academic English. Therefore, this study recommends the judicious integration of social media apps into English language courses to enhance ESL learners' communication skills.

Online social networks can be considered harbingers of modernity and are claimed to encourage individualization in religious practices. Nevertheless, religious minority groups, including reclusive communities, legitimize their use for religious and communal purposes. Accordingly, social networks are emerging as dynamic third spaces of identity reflections on key issues of lived religion. This study examined how members of a religious group negotiate their identity over online social networks. Accordingly, we conducted a content analysis of 70 ultra-Orthodox Jewish public (Haredi) WhatsApp groups and 40 semi-structured interviews with participants. Findings revealed three primary facets of identity performance: communal affinity; proclaimed conformism and practiced agency; and contesting dogmatism and pragmatism. Through these facets, a new social identity is crystallized within the Haredi sector in Israel. Thus, the secluded spaces of WhatsApp groups enable a marginalized grassroots...

Online social networks can be considered harbingers of modernity and are claimed to encourage individualization in religious practices. Nevertheless, religious minority groups, including reclusive communities, legitimize their use for religious and communal purposes. Accordingly, social networks are emerging as dynamic third spaces of identity reflections on key issues of lived religion. This study examined how members of a religious group negotiate their identity over online social networks. Accordingly, we conducted a content analysis of 70 ultra-Orthodox Jewish public (Haredi) WhatsApp groups and 40 semi-structured interviews with participants. Findings revealed three primary facets of identity performance: communal affinity; proclaimed conformism and practiced agency; and contesting dogmatism and pragmatism. Through these facets, a new social identity is crystallized within the Haredi sector in Israel. Thus, the secluded spaces of WhatsApp groups enable a marginalized grassroots...

Online social networks can be considered harbingers of modernity and are claimed to encourage individualization in religious practices. Nevertheless, religious minority groups, including reclusive communities, legitimize their use for religious and communal purposes. Accordingly, social networks are emerging as dynamic third spaces of identity reflections on key issues of lived religion. This study examined how members of a religious group negotiate their identity over online social networks. Accordingly, we conducted a content analysis of 70 ultra-Orthodox Jewish public (Haredi) WhatsApp groups and 40 semi-structured interviews with participants. Findings revealed three primary facets of identity performance: communal affinity; proclaimed conformism and practiced agency; and contesting dogmatism and pragmatism. Through these facets, a new social identity is crystallized within the Haredi sector in Israel. Thus, the secluded spaces of WhatsApp groups enable a marginalized grassroots religious public to promote incremental social change without shattering communal boundaries.

This is the presentation file of my recent research which was presented in the 3rd Asiascape: Digital Asia (DIAS) conference, to be held in Leiden, the Netherlands, on 29 May 2018.
In this paper, I am evaluating if a micro public sphere is shaped in a Telegram group where Iranian journalist had discussed the requirements and conditions for establishing a professional association. Telegram is the most popular Instant Messaging Application in Iran now, and its groups provide a very convenient space for discussions and conversations. That is why numerous groups are created to enable people to participate in public and (potentially) free discussions. In September 2016, when some Iranian journalist tried to establish a professional association for Tehran-based journalists, a group in Telegram was created which attracted more than 600 members at that time. The announced purpose of the group was exploring the circumstances and providing helpful suggestions for those working to prepare the statute of the association. Therefore, this group can be considered as a convenient case to see if such a micro public sphere can be shaped in the digital age. Thus, using a triangulation of three methods (participant observation, conversation analysis, and social media critical discourse analysis), we tried to achieve a close reading of messages in the group (we analyzed 1117 messages from the beginning before the theoretical saturation was achieved). Moreover, because the first two methods are generally presented for analyzing communications in the real (offline) world, we made the necessary changes to be able to apply them on Telegram conversations. We identified 5 different kinds of conversations: simple, empathy, non-challenging, challenging, and hostile. Findings showed that the members’ actions in some cases can be seen as communicative rather than instrumental or strategic. Results also indicated that as debates got more hostile, many of public sphere’s norms were violated. Furthermore, we explained the violated norms regarding the message types, users’ kinds and conversation classifications.