Enhancing Indonesian EFL Learners’ Intercultural Communicative Competence: A Digital Literacy Project

Abstract

Misunderstanding during communication, especially with learners from different cultural backgrounds, might happen easily in this digital era. However, it could be avoided by having intercultural communicative competence. This study, therefore, was intended to examine EFL learners’ intercultural communicative competence through a Digital Literacy Project. It employed a descriptive qualitative design as it analyzed the learners’ intercultural communicative competence through non-numerical data. The project involved 25 EFL learners taking Interculturality in Language and Literary Studies subject in one of the Islamic universities in Malang, Indonesia, in 2018 academic year. The data were taken from their interpretation reported in the video and from the questionnaires (reflection sheets). After taking the data, it was revealed that through this digital literacy project, learners’ intercultural communicative competence were increasing, as most of them were understanding of intercultural relationships through others’ experiences and experiencing situations similar to what their peers had. They were also able to position others in no different place from themselves, which indicated that they had had higher intercultural communicative competence.