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The concept of guanxi (i.e., a close and pervasive interpersonal relationship) has received little attention in the literature on online marketplaces, perhaps due to their impersonal nature. However, we propose that computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies can mimic traditional interactive face-to-face communications, thus enabling a form of guanxi in online marketplaces. Extending the literature on traditional guanxi, we herein introduce the concept of swift guanxi, conceptualized as the buyer’s perception of a swiftly formed interpersonal relationship with a seller, which consists of mutual understanding, reciprocal favors, and relationship harmony. Integrating theories of CMC and guanxi, we develop a model that explains how a set of CMC tools (i.e., instant messaging, message box, feedback system) facilitate repeat transactions with sellers by building swift guanxi and trust through interactivity and presence (social presence and telepresence) with sellers. Longitudinal data from 338 buyers in TaoBao, China’s leading online marketplace, support our structural model, showing that the buyers’ effective use of CMC tools enable swift guanxi and trust by enhancing the buyers’ perceptions of interactivity and presence. In turn, swift guanxi and trust predict buyers’ repurchase intentions and their actual repurchases from sellers. We discuss the implications of swift guanxi in online marketplaces with the aid of CMC technologies.

We are living in a time with unprecedented opportunities to communicate with others in authentic and compelling linguistically and culturally contextualized domains. In fact, language teachers today are faced with so many fascinating options for using technology to enhance language learning that it can be overwhelming. Even for those who are inclined to experiment with emerging technologies, it can be challenging to identify which resources, tools, or Web sites may best fit a particular lesson, activity, or goal. Many of the most compelling opportunities are situated within the same global social and technology trends that have become commonplace in our daily lives, including social media, artificial intelligence, big data, and augmented reality. This article addresses the extent to which technology‐mediated social interactions dominate our daily lives, how we can leverage those interactions to the benefit of our learners, and how we can engage them in learning experiences in ways that will encourage them to practice language extensively. Challenges Technology offers unprecedented opportunities to communicate with others in authentic and compelling, linguistically and culturally contextualized domains. How can we leverage learners’ technologically mediated and highly participatory culture and an array of quickly emerging technologies, including language learning media, artificial intelligence, big data, and augmented reality to enhance language teaching and learning?

The present study examines the role that multimodality and translanguaging play in scaffolding oral interactions during language‐related episodes (LREs) involving meaning negotiation. The oral tasks carried out using synchronous video‐based computer‐mediated communication were part of a tandem virtual exchange (Spain, Canada). The participants, 18 dyads of English and Spanish college‐level learners, conducted three oral interaction tasks in pairs online. LREs were identified and transcribed and data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively, including all instances of translanguaging and uses of multiple modes of meaning‐making. Quantitative data revealed that translanguaging involved not only English and Spanish, but also other shared languages and occurred mostly during meaning negotiation. Additionally, the use of multimodal elements, including gestures, postures, gaze, multiple digital and physical devices (mobile devices, computers, props, notes) was examined. Qualitative data analyses revealed the interplay between multimodality and learners’ multilingual repertoires which reinforced and complemented meaning‐making during these episodes. The Challenge Given the wide‐spread use of video calls and the affordances the medium provides for foreign language learning and, specifically, for oral interaction, how do learners manage the use of multimodal and multilingual elements in oral interactive tasks? Do multimodality and linguistic repertoires aid comprehension and enhance the meaning negotiation process?

Globalization and networking technologies have transformed the contexts, means, and uses of foreign language learning. The Internet offers a vast array of texts, films, music, news, information, pedagogical resources, sounds, and images from around the world as well as unprecedented opportunities for direct communication with native speakers in real time. However, the very technology that delivers these materials and interactions can produce subtle mediational effects that can influence how learners evaluate and interpret them. Focusing first on technological mediation broadly, and then on the specific context of desktop videoconferencing in a telecollaboration project, this article outlines the benefits and the potential pitfalls that computer mediation presents for the learning of languages and cultures. Specific attention is given to the question of what it means to mediate the foreign culture through interfaces that are familiar from one's home culture. The principal argument is that the dynamics of online language learning call for a relational pedagogy that focuses on how medium and context interact with language use. The goal of such an approach is to expose students to a broader scope of symbolic inquiry, to connect present text-making practices with those of the past, and to foster a critical perspective that will prepare young people to understand and shape future language and literacy practices.

This article briefly traces the historical conceptualization of linguistic and cultural immersion through technological applications, from the early days of locally networked computers to the cutting‐edge technologies known as virtual reality and augmented reality. Next, the article explores the challenges of immersive technologies for the field of foreign language education. Finally, a set of priority areas and research questions is posited to guide the thinking of foreign language educators over the next 50 years in their understanding of what constitutes immersion—virtual or otherwise. Challenges Immersive technologies enable new forms of experience that employ sounds and images to create engrossing simulated learning environments and allow the “real world” to merge with the digital world. How can teachers use assisted reality technology to help learners comprehend and produce a foreign language in real time?

Content analysis of computer-mediated communication (CMC) is important for evaluating the effectiveness of electronic communication in various organizational settings. CMC text analysis relies on systems capable of providing suitable navigation and knowledge discovery functionalities. However, existing CMC systems focus on structural features, with little support for features derived from message text. This deficiency is attributable to the informational richness and representational complexities associated with CMC text. In order to address this shortcoming, we propose a design framework for CMC text analysis systems. Grounded in systemic functional linguistic theory, the proposed framework advocates the development of systems capable of representing the rich array of information types inherent in CMC text. It also provides guidelines regarding the choice of features, feature selection, and visualization techniques that CMC text analysis systems should employ. The CyberGate system was developed as an instantiation of the design framework. CyberGate incorporates a rich feature set and complementary feature selection and visualization methods, including the writeprints and ink blots techniques. An application example was used to illustrate the system's ability to discern important patterns in CMC text. Furthermore, results from numerous experiments conducted in comparison with benchmark methods confirmed the viability of CyberGate's features and techniques. The results revealed that the CyberGate system and its underlying design framework can dramatically improve CMC text analysis capabilities over those provided by existing systems.

This article reviews theories of organizational communication with a special emphasis on theories that have been used to explain computer-mediated communication phenomena. Among the theories reviewed, two—social presence and media richness—are identified as problematic and as posing obstacles to future theoretical development. While shortcomings of these theories have been identified in the past, some of these theories' predictions have been supported by empirical evidence. It is argued that this theoretical dilemma can be resolved based upon principles derived from a modern version of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection and the application of those principles to the understanding of human evolution. A new theoretical model called the psychobiological model is developed, which predicts variations in cognitive effort in computer-mediated collaborative tasks. The model proposes that there is a negative causal link between the \"naturalness\" of a computer-mediated communication medium, which is the similarity of the medium to the face-to-face medium, and the cognitive effort required from an individual using the medium for knowledge transfer. The model also states that this link is counterbalanced by what are referred to as \"schema alignment\" and \"cognitive adaptation.\" The schema alignment construct refers to the similarity between the mental schemas of an individual and those of other participant(s). The cognitive adaptation construct refers to an individual's level of schema development associated with the use of a particular medium. Finally, the model states that the degree to which the medium supports an individual's ability to convey and listen to speech is particularly significant in defining its naturalness, more so than the medium's degree of support for the use of facial expressions and body language. An example is offered of how the psychobiological model can be tested in the context provided by the customer support area of an online broker.

Online spaces that enable shared public interpersonal communications are of significant social, organizational, and economic importance. In this paper, a theoretical model and associated unobtrusive method are proposed for researching the relationship between online spaces and the behavior they host. The model focuses on the collective impact that individual information-overload coping strategies have on the dynamics of open, interactive public online group discourse. Empirical research was undertaken to assess the validity of both the method and the model, based on the analysis of over 2.65 million postings to 600 Usenet newsgroups over a 6-month period. Our findings support the assertion that individual strategies for coping with \"information overload\" have an observable impact on large-scale online group discourse. Evidence was found for the hypotheses that: (1) users are more likely to respond to simpler messages in overloaded mass interaction; (2) users are more likely to end active participation as the overloading of mass interaction increases; and (3) users are more likely to generate simpler responses as the overloading of mass interaction grows. The theoretical model outlined offers insight into aspects of computer-mediated communication tool usability, technology design, and provides a road map for future empirical research.

The trend toward physically dispersed work groups has necessitated a fresh inquiry into the role and nature of team leadership in virtual settings. To accomplish this, we assembled thirteen culturally diverse global teams from locations in Europe, Mexico, and the United States, assigning each team a project leader and task to complete. The findings suggest that effective team leaders demonstrate the capability to deal with paradox and contradiction by performing multiple leadership roles simultaneously (behavioral complexity). Specifically, we discovered that highly effective virtual team leaders act in a mentoring role and exhibit a high degree of understanding (empathy) toward other team members. At the same time, effective leaders are also able to assert their authority without being perceived as overbearing or inflexible. Finally, effective leaders are found to be extremely effective at providing regular, detailed, and prompt communication with their peers and in articulating role relationships (responsibilities) among the virtual team members. This study provides useful insights for managers interested in developing global virtual teams, as well as for academics interested in pursuing virtual team research.

This paper explores the challenges of creating and maintaining trust in a global virtual team whose members transcend time, space, and culture. The challenges are highlighted by integrating recent literature on work teams, computer-mediated communication groups, cross-cultural communication, and interpersonal and organizational trust. To explore these challenges empirically, we report on a series of descriptive case studies on global virtual teams whose members were separated by location and culture, were challenged by a common collaborative project, and for whom the only economically and practically viable communication medium was asynchronous and synchronous computer-mediated communication. The results suggest that global virtual teams may experience a form of \"swift\" trust, but such trust appears to be very fragile and temporal. The study raises a number of issues to be explored and debated by future research. Pragmatically, the study describes communication behaviors that might facilitate trust in global virtual teams.