From discourse analysis to the structural analysis of the networks : a diachronic study of an educationnal forum

his paper addresses the problem of the online discussion forums used within the ODL framework of the University of Picardie. We sought to gauge the social structures the learners are setting up in this communication environment and to analyse the collective speech related to it, through a double approach, a qualitative one based on two discourse analysis methods and a quantitative one inspired by the structural analysis of the social networks. First, the linguistic analysis of the discourse underlined the different phases that frame the discussions as well as the apparition of dialectical exchanges after 18 months of debates. Secondly, the analysis carried out with ThemAgora software shows a progression of the discourse on the training processes. These networks compose a most special social structure with self-organising tendencies and try to free themselves from any institutional constraints.