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Article published In: Pragmatics and Society
Vol. 17:1 (2026) ► pp.24–44

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Reciprocity and epistemicity on screen-based interactions

The case of MOOCs

ORCiD logo with link | Federal University of Minas Gerais
Published online: 6 March 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.23143.oli
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to explore the interplay between (im)politeness reciprocity and knowledge exchange (Ke) in screen-based interactions. By combining quantitative and qualitative methods, the learners’ reactions to a discussion prompt in a Massive Open Online Course were analyzed. The results show the influence of the Principle of Epistemic Reciprocity in the negotiation of epistemic agency in a situation of epistemic dispute. Our findings also suggest that the production of new propositional content plays a major role in speech acts of knowledge exchange while contributing to guaranteeing some degree of social acceptance in virtual communities.
Article outline
  • 1.Study overview
  • 2.(Im)politeness reciprocity and epistemicity
  • 3.The role of epistemic authority in digital interactions
  • 4.Posting online in the MOCCs
  • 5.Methodology of data gathering and data analysis
  • 6.Analysis of selected posts
    • 6.1Conducive questions by the lead educator
    • 6.2Negotiating epistemic rights
    • 6.3Challenging questions in learner’s posts
  • 7.Quantitative results
  • 8.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
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