Dialogic Studies in Digital Communication: Pragmatic Analysis of Online Discourse

Digital communication platforms have reshaped how people engage in dialogue across linguistic and cultural boundaries. This study examines online discourse through a pragmatic lens to understand how dialogic communication unfolds in multilingual, computer-mediated contexts. Dialogic communication—defined as the negotiated exchange of ideas—encourages openness, ethics, and mutual understanding, yet how these ideals are realized among second-language users online remains unclear. This research identifies pragmatic features of online dialogic discourse, explores how second-language speakers co-construct meaning, and evaluates the benefits and challenges of dialogic interaction. A mixed-methods discourse analysis was conducted on a corpus of public online discussions (≈100 participants; ≈50,000 words) involving diverse non-native English speakers, combining quantitative corpus techniques with qualitative pragmatic analysis. Findings reveal that participants exchanged multiple perspectives, signaled openness to difference, and employed pragmatic strategies to negotiate meaning. Online discourse enhanced transparency, social presence, and knowledge co-construction, though challenges such as multitasking, divided attention, and absent presence were evident. Nevertheless, digital platforms can support authentic dialogic exchanges when communicators adopt dialogic attitudes and when platform design facilitates sustained interaction. Grounded in pragmatics and dialogic theory, this study demonstrates that online discourse—even among non-native speakers—can embody genuine dialogue, with implications for education, identity-building, and intercultural collaboration. By aligning with SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 17 (Partnerships), the findings underscore how dialogic digital spaces can advance lifelong learning and cross-cultural engagement.