Exue - Learn Conversational English Online

I realized that the chatting room I am participating in is just a part of a larger and complete online community "Spoken English" (http://bbs.exue.com.cn/forumdisplay.php?fid=40), though it can exist standalone. Another community (English Water Corner) I am participating is basically a discussion board with very limited features. Therefore, my analysis will be focusing on the community "Spoken English."

Based on the definition of communities in general and online/virtual communities in particular as well as those identified features of current web 2.0 applications covered in readings and class discussion, "Spoken English" can be classifies as an online community for learning conversational English using some web 2.0 features. Users are Chinese who are interested in learning English.

On the highest level, the users' need in this community is to improve their spoken English. Reading and writing are also important as English language ability. However, this community is solely dedicated to spoken English. The community is basically a forum with some other complementary tools or services. It is a very common business model of building online community now in China, which is referred as BBS. It is like a message board but with some enhanced functions or Web 2.0 technologies. In next few postings, I will analyze the system's services and content generated and how it addresses the user's needs in the context of web 2.0 technology.