OSCAR: a framework for structuring mediated communication by speech acts

The work presented 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 student´s attitudes in the discussion).