Meaning Construction, Co-construction, and Re-construction in an On-line Reading Club: The Perspective from Discourse Analyses

Abstract

Many studies have shown the benefits of participating in an on-line reading club for second/foreing language learning. However, few studies investigated the process of club members’ constructing meaning from the perspective of discourse analyses. This study aimed to bridge this gap and explored how EFL learners constructed the meaning in an on-line reading club. The data were collected from 11 students’ posting general responses to selected issues and peer-responses to club members. The results not only indicated the process of meaning construction, co-construction, and re-construction in the students’ responses in the on-line reading club, but also revealed their particular discourse patterns. This paper concluded that the students’ participating in the on-line reading club helped them engage in autonomous learning and established the reinforcement between reading and writing.