Introduction : Sociocultural research perspectives for online teaching and learning / Carla Meskill -- Learning in new online cultures : East meets West / Gulnara Sadykova -- Projection of teacher identity in introductory posts : a critical discourse analysis of strategies of online self-presentation / Denis Samburskiy -- An exploration of 3D virtual worlds through ESL/EFL teachers' perspectives in second life / Ozan Varli -- Collaboration unpacked : tasks, tools and activities / Andreas Lund -- Synchronous online language teaching : strategies to support learner development / Iryna Kozlova and Evon Zundel -- The educational value of student talk in online discussions / Sedef Uzuner Smith and Ruchi Mehta -- Focusing on the social : research into the distributed knowledge of novice teachers in online exchange / Melinda Dooly -- Perceptions of humour in oral synchronous online environments / Natasha Anthony -- Face-to-face and online EL writing tutorials : a comparison / Jason Vickers -- Rapport management and online learning : L2 socialization in Livemocha / Adrienne Gonzalez -- 'We don't have to always post stuff to help us learn' : informal learning through social networking in a beginners' Chinese group / Marie-Noelle Lamy

Online Teaching and Learning shows how learning through the internet depends on complex human interactions for success. The text uses sociocultural theory as its foundational stance to empirically examine the dynamics of these interactions. It seeks to understand meaning making in all of its social, linguistic and cultural complexity. Each chapter examines how it is that culturally and historically situated meanings get negotiated through social mediation in online instructional venues. It extends the ways we think and talk about online teaching and learning