Developing intercultural competence with Web 2.0 technologies in an EFL context

Abstract

Intercultural English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) education requires a suitabletheoretical framework for the teaching of intercultural competence (IC). On the one hand,existing conceptualizations of IC in the intercultural communication literature are notalways helpful for language teachers; on the other, the language teaching literatureaddresses the inclusion of IC to a limited extent (Baker, 2015; Porto, 2013). By itsinterdisciplinary nature, intercultural EFL education requires a combination of compatibletheoretical approaches, and existing theories of IC should be adapted and combinedbased on their complementarity. Accordingly, a study on IC in EFL contexts might needthe integration of a developmental model (Bennett, 1993) and a component theory of IC(Byram, 1997); moreover, it should foreground language elements by referring to linguistictheories to understand the role of language in IC development.In the light of this argument, the present project adapted both Byram (1997) and Bennett(1993) as theoretical frameworks and investigated IC development in reference tofunctional linguists’ APPRAISAL (Martin & White, 2007) to gain insights into the affectivedimension encoded in informants’ language. Moreover, in response to the need of anauthentic environment for teaching intercultural communication in a university-level EFLcontext in Vietnam, the project explored the extent to which a Web 2.0 mediated learningdesign could contribute to EFL learners’ IC development.Employing a design-based research methodology, this study involved creating a Web 2.0mediated IC learning design for university-level EFL learners in Vietnam, testing andrefining it. Specifically, based on the pedagogical context of the case study and existingprinciples of intercultural education, a Facebook-mediated IC learning design was createdand integrated into the existing course, “Intercultural Communication”. It entailed threeiterative learning cycles of written chat between students and guests from other culturesabout cultural issues of interest to them, students’ written reflection on what they learnedand discussion with peers, all of which were posted on Facebook. The researcherimplemented this design over fifteen weeks and collected data from a nineteen studentclass. The data included the material posted on Facebook, follow-up interviews with focalstudents and student evaluations.With regard to theorizing intercultural communication, the study shows that the students’IC development was a process of languaging to create changes in cognition, affect andskills. Specifically, they used their linguistic and multimodal resources to articulate,formulate, exchange and create knowledge in chats with the guests and with peers, and intheir written reflections. Via these processes they developed their skills of discovery andinteraction, and of interpreting and relating cultural phenomena. Languaging was also aprocess of expressing feelings and negotiating stances. Additionally, the process ofchange involved balancing cognitions and shifting feelings associated with thosecognitions. It was influenced by situational factors and personal traits. Accordingly, thestudents’ trajectories of IC development shifted dynamically through different states ofethnocentrism to a state of relativizing values underlying cultural difference.In pedagogical terms, the students’ changes in knowledge, feelings and skills suggest thatthe proposed learning design contributed to their IC development. The constructivistpedagogy underlying the design and the mediation of Web 2.0 facilitated the students’reflective thinking. Specifically, Facebook-mediated chats with guests gave the studentsintercultural experiences, made previously invisible cultural differences more visible, andthus triggered the students’ awareness of them. The students’ changes in IC wereattributed to their critical reflection which was scaffolded by teacher preparation, guidanceand feedback, by peers cooperation, and by empowerment from the guests. However, thefindings disclose several constraints of Web 2.0 and weaknesses of the learning design.The most salient are time management, and provision of feedback. Moreover, there mightbe a mismatch between Vietnamese students’ educational expectations and values, andWestern constructivist pedagogy involved in the learning design.Theoretically, the study offers insights into less-investigated aspects of IC and proposes auseful conceptualization of IC in EFL contexts. First, it illuminates a range of affectivestates associated with different cognitive configurations that are overlooked in commonlycitedtheories (e.g., Bennett, 1993; Byram, 1997). It also sheds light on the phenomena oflanguaging and of cognitive balancing in cognitive and affective adaptation which havebeen criticized as under-investigated. Second, it addresses the major weaknesses ofexisting IC conceptualizations, namely abstractness and lack of awareness of linguisticissues, by providing linguistic and non-linguistic evidence of IC development. Drawing onfindings about the interaction of these dimensions, individual trajectories are uncovered,revealing how EFL learners construct IC via languaging. Accordingly, the study proposes amore comprehensive model of IC that can be integrated into an EFL curriculum.Moreover, the project generates pedagogical principles for Web 2.0 mediated IC learningdesigns.Practically, the study demonstrates an example of how to create a Web 2.0 mediated IClearning design which can be flexibly adapted in similar contexts.