Negotiating pre-service EFL teachers’ identity orientations through telecollaboration

Abstract

ABSTRACT Purpose Telecollaboration has become a dynamic subfield of CALL studies with the increasing availability of multimodal platforms in language learning and teaching. Although current studies mostly have focused on bilingual and bicultural exchanges, affordances of multi-faceted teacher identity have not received considerable attention. To address this gap, 57 teacher candidates took part in an eight-week telecollaboration project with four instructors from European universities. Method Drawing on [Deardorff, D. K. 2006. “Identification and Assessment of Intercultural Competence as a Student Outcome of Internationalization.” Journal of Studies in International Education 10 (3): 241–266.] process orientation and [Bennett, M. J. 1993. “Towards Eethnorelativism: A Developmental Model of Iintercultural Sensitivity.” In Education for the Intercultural Experience, edited by R. Michael Paige, 21–71. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press] developmental models, teacher candidates’ identity negotiations were analysed through the data generated on (a)synchronous modes. Findings and Originality Findings suggest that dynamics resulting from multicultural and multilingual identity contribute to higher intercultural communicative competence, and teacher candidates’ intercultural development is manifested through their (a) intercultural adjustment, (b) culture-specific identity orientations, (c) gender socialisation and (d) culture and technology interplay. This study provides several implications for EFL practitioners to foster intercultural communicative competence in language classes and utilise telecollaboration as a valuable asset with concrete outcomes for upcoming studies.