OSCAR: a framework for structuring mediated communication by speech acts

The work presented in this paper addresses the problem of the structuration of textual communication through Chats or Forums as a means to (1) support students involved in collective activities and (2) support the tutor in his perception of these activities. OSCAR is a framework based on the speech-acts theory. It allows defining theories composed of a set of speech-acts and precedence relations between these speech-acts and to perform synchronous and asynchronous discussions structured by these theories.' OSCAR can be used both as an operational tool within a distance-learning platform and as a research tool as it proposes means to study a posteriori the discussions (e.g., analysis of the different students' attitudes in the discussion).