Emoji use in WhatsApp interactions: discursive functions, group formation strategies, and mediation

This study analyzes the interactions of 227 teachers in a language learning and teaching course on WhatsApp and aims to a) identify the use of emojis in syntactic and discursive functions in educational experiences via WhatsApp, b) understand the role of emojis in the evolution of learning communities in this application, and c) discuss the use of emojis in mediating online educational experiences. The findings show the use of emojis with several syntactic and discursive functions meant to make up for the absence of non-verbal resources typical of face-to-face interactions. They also suggest that emojis significantly contributed to the construction of group cohesion, a sense of belonging, and identity manifestations in the interactions that took place during the course, as well as the appropriation of emojis as a mediation strategy to highlight the educators' and teaching assistants' posts and to prompt pedagogical interventions.