Teaching and the Politics of Virtual Language Use

Abstract

Considering the simple task of language, which is communication and trying to reach out to others, sometimes language is colonized by users who follow specific ideologies. Linguistically speaking, behaviourists use language to give specific instructions and control the outcomes of such commands; cognitivists use language to give instructions without insisting on the way or the accuracy of application. Constructivists, on the other hand, use language to foster the sense of cooperation among learners. Teachers, therefore, keep an eye on their language use to express a specific linguistic orientation. During Covid-19, teachers were and still are obliged to deliver classes virtually through different platforms. The time and way of class delivery are mainly communicated through official Facebook groups. This study examined to what extent did the politics of language used to communicate with learners virtually influence the participation and engagement of learners. For that, a correlational quantitative research method was followed through the use of questionnaire. The questionnaire was aimed for students to inspect the relationship between the tone of teachers and students’ interaction according to different factors such as teachers’ profile picture, use of pseudo names, their formal/informal writing, and their direct or indirect communication with students. The researcher examined different Algerian official Facebook groups of different Algerian universities. The data was collected from 107 participants who were engaged in a hybrid learning since the beginning of the academic year 2020/2021. The findings demonstrated a significant positive correlation between teachers virtual use of language and students engagement.