Abstract
The focus of this paper is the analysis of data collected after conducting a telecollaboration project throughout one semester with 12 advanced learners of Spanish from a mid-sized Atlantic coast university in the USA and 12 higher intermediate students of English from a technical university in Spain. Data was collected through a questionnaire enquiring about learner expectations at the outset of the project and a final survey seeking detailed information about learner satisfaction in order to implement improvements in subsequent projects. In-depth analysis of the data shed light on the perceived benefits and challenges of the intercultural telecollaboration project. There was evidence that the students were very open-minded about discussing multifaceted intercultural issues and very positive toward collaborating with fellow students from a different cultural background. The surveys also suggest that the learners’ expected benefits aligned with their stated benefits after carrying out the project, which led us to believe that possible frustrations and communication breakdowns had been kept to a minimum.
Highlights
In this paper we shall refer to telecollaboration as defined by Guth and Helm in 2010 (p. 14); that is, as an “internet-based intercultural exchange between people of different cultural/national backgrounds set up in an institutional context with the aim of developing both language skills and intercultural communicative competence through structured tasks”
Throughout these past years, an increasing amount of research into telecollaboration has been conducted that has reported on the many gains in areas such as language development (Hauck & Youngs, 2008; Kern, Ware, & Warschauer, 2004), learner autonomy (O’Rourke, 2007), and intercultural communicative development (Fuchs, 2007; Oskoz, Gimeno & Sevilla, 2018) which have exceeded the challenges that may arise, among other things, from differing interactional styles, incompatibilities in world interpretations, and socio-institutional constraints (Basharina, 2007; Ware & Kramsch, 2005; Ware & O’Dowd, 2008)
After conducting telecollaborative encounters during one semester between North American and Spanish students in which intercultural communication was at the heart of the project, the researchers were able to find evidence, through the pre and post project questionnaires administered, that verified what was only an intuition at the outset
Summary
In this paper we shall refer to telecollaboration as defined by Guth and Helm in 2010 (p. 14); that is, as an “internet-based intercultural exchange between people of different cultural/national backgrounds set up in an institutional context with the aim of developing both language skills and intercultural communicative competence through structured tasks”. 14); that is, as an “internet-based intercultural exchange between people of different cultural/national backgrounds set up in an institutional context with the aim of developing both language skills and intercultural communicative competence through structured tasks” Throughout these past years, an increasing amount of research into telecollaboration has been conducted that has reported on the many gains in areas such as language development (Hauck & Youngs, 2008; Kern, Ware, & Warschauer, 2004), learner autonomy (O’Rourke, 2007), and intercultural communicative development (Fuchs, 2007; Oskoz, Gimeno & Sevilla, 2018) which have exceeded the challenges that may arise, among other things, from differing interactional styles, incompatibilities in world interpretations, and socio-institutional constraints (Basharina, 2007; Ware & Kramsch, 2005; Ware & O’Dowd, 2008). They have been instrumental in enhancing students’ cultural reflections (Bauer et al, 2006; WildnerBassett, 2005; Oskoz, 2012; Oskoz & Pérez-Broncano, 2016)
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