Online Intercultural Communication Research Articles

Perspectives on virtual intercultural communication in the Irish-based technology sector

Abstract This mixed-methods study investigates English-medium oral online intercultural communication within the Irish-based international technology sector. The initial phase of the research consisted of a survey investigating participants’ (N = 113) experiences of virtual communication. Following the survey, to linguistically investigate such interactions, the International Virtual Team Corpus (IVT Corpus) was created. This corpus consists of approximately 80,000 words of transcribed speech gathered from 30 web-based recordings of meetings, which include both Irish and international colleagues speaking in English. This paper reports on some of the relevant quantitative and qualitative survey results, uncovering both preconceptions and embodied experiences of international virtual meetings. Following this, it presents corpus-based results of significant frequent and keyword clusters that provide a window into the discourse patterns of international virtual team meetings in this sector. Some tentative implications and applications for work-based virtual communication are explored in the closing discussion.

Asynchronous virtual exchange and young English learners’ intercultural communicative competence

Abstract Virtual Exchange, by definition, connects groups of students in different countries for online intercultural communication (Lewis & O’Dowd, 2016). This exploratory study presents and analyses an asynchronous video exchange between sixth grade students in two countries with the goal of exploring which of Byram’s objectives for intercultural communicative competence (2021) can be addressed with young learners. The asynchronous video exchange project presented in this article was carried out between young English learners in Germany and English L1 speakers in the United States. Transcripts and observation notes from project meetings in Germany and transcripts of two videoconferences held with the two groups at the beginning and end of the exchange were analyzed qualitatively using Byram’s objectives for intercultural communicative competence (2021) as deductive codes in order to reveal which objectives were addressed during the exchange project. Eighteen of Byram’s 30 objectives were addressed to some degree in the current project. Those objectives will be discussed and considerations for future exchanges will be presented in view of these initial results.

How Do Chinese Street Food YouTubers Robustly Communicate Cross-Cultural Tourism Destination?

The street food content of YouTubers is an intercultural communication message to promote Chinese culture to viewers around the world. This article aims to analyze cross-cultural interactivity in physical and online intercultural communication. The research uses a qualitative content analysis method continuously produced by non-Chinese-speaking YouTubers to communicate original Chinese culture to viewers outside China. The sample selection was determined using several search keywords on YouTube channels and 21 titles were selected in English, Indonesian, Malay, and French. Data were analysed by coding text, verbal, audio, and visual formats. Research finds that there is social learning about Chinese culture through street food and several other cultural dimensions, such as heritage, fashion, artefacts and history, Chinese language, and customs. YouTubers produce street food content by choosing Chinese culinary specialities to introduce to viewers. Viewers worldwide enjoy Chinese culinary delights in various places because overseas Chinese restaurants and street food are found in Southeast Asia, Europe, and America. Apart from watching online, viewers who are consumers also enjoy Chinese street food. Implications for the culture-based tourism industry are also discussed.

A Blended Learning Practice of "Flipped Classroom" Mode in Intercultural Communication Course

This paper examines the flipped classroom models used in the online intercultural communication course that was created by instructors and students. Teachers adjust to a blended learning approach created by integrating online and in-person instruction. The secret to providing students with a good education is to put them first when developing the curriculum because of the unique aspects of online learning. To help students, develop practical intercultural communication skills, instructors apply the case analysis method with their class. A useful and efficient teaching plan that included teaching goals, content knowledge, and teaching techniques after considering the comments from the students was created. Students were assisted in taking part in the entire experience of examining genuine instances and finding solutions. Students are taught about the "Performance Culture Approach" methodology and urged to discuss real-world issues in the classroom. Students can identify a workable solution to the issue to minimize communication barriers and successfully conduct multicultural conversations by examining and debating real examples.

English as a lingua franca and interculturality: navigating structure- and process-oriented perspectives in intercultural interactions

ABSTRACT The growth in streams of online intercultural communication goes hand in hand with the use of English as a lingua franca. In this article, I argue that there are synergies between the theory and analytical notions developed in the frameworks of ELF and Intercultural Studies (specifically the notion of ‘interculturality’). The study of communicative practices in which linguistic and communicative common ground is created in situ can be combined with theoretical reflections on culturality and interculturality coupled with structural and processual understandings of ‘culture.’ The argument is substantiated by the empirical analysis of an interactional sequence in ELF that took place in the context of an online intercultural game.

Spatial repertoire, translingual creativity, and identity in Chinese speakers’ online intercultural experience

ABSTRACT This paper uncovers L1 Chinese speakers' online intercultural communication where they deploy English as a lingua franca and other spatial repertoires to co-construct translanguaging practices with their interlocutors and present three-fold identities - translingual, L1 Chinese, and legitimate users of English, leading to the argument that non-native English speakers and spatial repertoires play agentive roles in shaping English in the trends of globalisation and digitalisation.

Gleaning Emotions from Virtual Stickers: An Intercultural Study

Virtual stickers—as a newer generation of graphic icons—possess the potential to facilitate online intercultural communication through emotional expression. However, people from different cultural backgrounds rely on varied display and decoding rules, which lead to disagreement on the emotions communicated by stickers. Drawing from the dialect theory of communicating emotion, the current study employs an online survey to examine whether culture-, emotion-, and technology-related factors impact American college students’ recognition accuracy of 6 basic emotions expressed through 36 Chinese animated and static stickers. Results demonstrate that sticker use frequency, intercultural communication competence, and empathy are positively related to cross-cultural sticker emotion recognition accuracy. However, neither prior intercultural experience with Chinese students nor social media use frequency influences cross-cultural sticker emotion recognition accuracy. No gender differences were identified. This study represents one of the first to systematically examine predictors of sticker interpretation accuracy in a cross-cultural context.

Intercultural sensitivity in the online multicultural community: Indonesian students’ experiences

The online social network facilitates excessive opportunities for intercultural communication in the online multicultural community. Occasionally, intercultural communication possibly results in misunderstanding, confusion, or stereotypes. Intercultural sensitivity, therefore, is necessary to respond to probable issues in online intercultural communication based on Indonesian students’ experiences. This narrative study portrayed the development of intercultural sensitivity in the online multicultural setting. The data were compiled from narrative reports and recordings and then analyzed based on Hunter’s analysis of the narrative. It reveals the development of intercultural sensitivity in the themes of 1) embracing a phonemic variation of English, 2) developing mutual strategies to understand the language, 3) celebrating small similarities, and 4) self-control to listen respectfully. The findings are primarily meant for intercultural education. The study also suggests the use of an authentic intercultural setting for English language learners to develop their intercultural sensitivity and bring the discussions after practice in the classroom.

BENEFITTING STUDENTS WITH KNOWLEDGE-SHARING PRACTICES IN CULTURAL-BASED EDUCATION

The majority of students in higher education find it challenging to understand cultural differences and communicate in English. In reality, students' enthusiasm wanes as a result of distractions like poor internet connections and challenging coursework. Using knowledge-sharing techniques in this situation is a solution to overcoming these challenges. The purpose of this study is to describe how students feel about using knowledge-sharing techniques in an online intercultural communication course. Three English Department students who participated in the research's Knowledge-sharing Practice in Intercultural Communication Learning at a university in Bogor were the main subjects of the study. Students in intercultural communication classes at higher education institutions range in age from 20 to 22 and academic standing. Focus groups discussion, interviews, and other forms of narrative inquiry were used in this qualitative study. This study discovered that implementing knowledge-sharing practices in online learning aids students in removing confusion from Intercultural communication classes, encourages higher education students to voice their opinions, aids higher education students in showing respect for cultural differences, stimulates students to think critically, encourages students to participate in the discussion, and inspires students to study abroad, but it is still challenging for them.

Sociolinguistic Credo of a Foreign Language Teacher: The Case of Digital Classroom

The last two years saw a dramatic increase in the use of digital classrooms due to the new pandemic realities. Internet platforms and social networks offer teachers many options for interacting with their students and colleagues. Online communication differs from face-to-face communication in many aspects and for linguadidactic purposes should be reconsidered from a sociolinguistic point of view. The aim of the study is to explore sociolinguistic aspects of teachers’ nature in online intercultural communication. The study relies on a questionnaire and interviews to collect data about students’ level of sociolinguistic awareness, their ideas about professional online interaction, and their views on sociolinguistic difficulties. The research provides a comparative analysis of the sociolinguistic competence status in Russian and European methodology. The paper introduces the list of internal and external features that influence interlocutors’ sociolinguistic behavior during intercultural communication online. The results suggest that there are a lot of digital factors that determine the communication outcome. The term “sociolinguistic credo” and its definition are presented. It is admitted that external and internal peculiarities should be taken into account in order to train future foreign language teachers effectively. There should be equality of cultures, especially on the Internet where it is easy to lose all cultures behind avatars.

Preparing Students for Successful Online Intercultural Communication and Collaboration in Virtual Exchange

In the context of Virtual Exchange (VE) it is often assumed that participants will be naturally prepared to interact online successfully with their international partners. However, there is ample evidence in the literature to suggest that VE participants are usually unaware of effective communicative strategies in synchronous and asynchronous online communicative contexts. Through action research, this article investigates how teachers can provide scaffolding for both these communicative modalities in online intercultural environments. It reports on a qualitative content analysis of conversational and self-reported data from a corpus of three VEs that were collected and triangulated in order to identify when, in what areas, and in what ways students could benefit from pedagogical mentoring. The article then presents key mentoring stages and strategies that were identified and provides insight into the type of scaffolding that VE teachers can provide their students to help them achieve successful (a)synchronous online intercultural interaction.

Межкультурный потенциал использования беспилотных летательных аппаратов в контексте междисциплинарных исследований

This article describes an experience of using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to create cultural and educational videos with their further demonstration and discussion in online intercultural communication between 10 students from Indonesia and 10 students from China. Direct outreach to the students was provided in online mode due to the quarantine posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, an issue arose with respect to the use of UAVs for creating cultural and educational content following the rules of physical distance. The experiment revealed five affordances of UAVs such as (1) provision of visual and aural feelings of being in a place; (2) provision of details on a circular route beyond the human eye level; (3) provision of landscape overviews; (4) provision of detailed observations at higher altitudes, and (5) ability to fly to a specific area. Suggestions and conclusions made upon this research can be found useful in intercultural learning and multidisciplinary studies in Kazakhstan higher education.

“I Apology no no I Mean I Am Sorry … Please Let Me Explain That First”: Enhancing Communicative Language Competence of Thai University Students Through CEFR-Based Online Intercultural Communication

During this COVID-19 pandemic, no one can deny the value of online communication. It has saved our lives by preventing us from going outdoors and becoming infected, while also facilitating achievement of various personal and professional goals. Online communication can also assist us with our academic goals, whether it is used to communicate with supervisors or with people from other lingua-cultural backgrounds to practice the language. This form of communication is emphasized in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) framework, which is one of the most significant guidelines for language teaching and learning throughout the world. The present research has two aims: first, to determine the extent to which CEFR-based online intercultural communication can improve Thai students’ communicative language competence, and second, to investigate Thai students’ attitudes toward CEFR-based online intercultural communication and international volunteers. The results received from 15 fifth-year dual B.A. (Chinese) and B.CM. (Traditional Chinese Medicine) students and international volunteers using various research instruments revealed that Thai students could increase their communicative language competence after participating in CEFR-based intercultural communication activities. This encompassed linguistic, sociolinguistic, and pragmatic abilities that correspond to the CEFR (2001) scales. In terms of attitudes, the study indicated that, because they were more confident in their communicative language ability, they had a positive attitude toward the CEFR-based online intercultural communication activities and their international volunteers. Finally, further research on this topic should include a proper design of online communication activities as well as methods for assessing students’ competency both before and after participation.

ROLES OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNERS AND TEACHERS IN CONTEXT OF DIGITALIZATION AND ONLINE INTERCULTURAL EXCHANGE

Even though there have been discrepancies when it comes to the importance of intercultural competence development in foreign language learning, with the emergence of new generations of young technocrats growing up in the world of rapid globalization, it is becoming clear that intercultural awareness in this process cannot be disregarded, and the language itself out of its context cannot be fully comprehended. The aim of this piece of writing is to point to the fact that digital technologies in language classroom are therefore of paramount importance, since they enable us to overcome physical distances among cultures and stimulate the development of skills needed for every global citizen. The intention goes beyond this in a way that it shows how the enabled online intercultural communication affects the roles of language learners and teachers and move students to central position in foreign language learning. Furthermore, it underlines the need for teacher support in the development of all the necessary competences which would finally lead to promoting and fostering learner autonomy. It also observes that OIE cannot alone promote language and skill competence development, and calls for blended approach which comprises both online and offline sessions that allow for reflection crucial for foreign language acquisition.

Technology-mediated PBLT: Encouraging Japanese EFL Learners to Communicate in L2

This study reports on the result of implementing online intercultural communication as a pre-PBLT activity to encourage the English learners of Japanese to use L2 during the project in an EFL context. Self-evaluation of their English speaking confidence level was conducted at three different stages of the project to track the change of Japanese EFL learners’ confidence level before and after the completion of intercultural communication and finally after the completion of the entire project. Measuring the L2 speaking confidence level at three stages of our PBLT course allowed us to examine 1) whether the pre-PBLT intercultural communication successfully primed the Japanese EFL learners to speak in L2 in the subsequent PBLT activities, and 2) whether the Japanese EFL learners could maintain the “English-speaking mode” even during their communication with other Japanese speakers. The results indicate that most of the participants could successfully build L2 speaking confidence after the pre-PBLT intercultural communication and maintain the raised L2 speaking confidence by practicing L2 communication for the completion of the PBLT project with their Japanese partners.

Promoting critical thinking in online intercultural communication

<span>This paper investigates the educational experience arising from the use of an online discussion forum in an undergraduate blended learning language programme; to do this, it focuses on the type of cognitive processes that learners experience during a computer-mediated collaborative task and explores the potential causal relationship between the instructional strategies and the students’ cognitive activity. Findings indicate that the ‘teaching presence’ had a significant indirect influence on the outcome of the online intercultural interactions.</span>

Intercultural citizenship education in an EFL online project in Argentina

In this article, I describe an online intercultural citizenship experience in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom in Argentina. An action research project on the Malvinas/Falklands war fought between Argentina and the UK in 1982 was carried out in 2012. Through a comparative methodology involving Argentine and English foreign language classes, students develop a critical perspective on texts while they also create an international identification, different from their national/regional identifications. While the existing body of work on intercultural citizenship and criticality in the foreign language classroom is abundant in Europe, North America and Asia, empirical studies hardly exist in this region and one of the questions to be answered deals with the transferability of curriculum research across continents. After a description of the theoretical framework and the project itself, I present student samples and analysis that provide evidence that this intercultural citizenship project was fruitfully implemented for the first time in Argentinean Higher Education in the foreign language classroom. I then outline the significance of the project from the point of view of online intercultural communication and the theory of intercultural citizenship.

Are you an ELF? The relevance of ELF as an equitable social category in online intercultural communication

This paper examines the different social categories that are made relevant when geographically dispersed speakers of English as an additional language communicate in chat rooms. Although the literature characterizes these interactions as English as a lingua franca, this paper explores to what extent interactants see themselves as lingua franca speakers. Membership categorization analysis is used to investigate how social categories related to English are enacted in, and through, talk and interaction. This is done by investigating language proficiency compliments, talk of language proficiency, and getting acquainted sequences. While English is the medium of communication in these chat rooms, the findings reveal that English as a lingua franca is not a social category that is made relevant during talk. When constructing identities in relation to English, the social categories that are made relevant are foreigner, language learner, and non-native. These observations are then used to argue that an equitable, impartial, and context-sensitive approach to examining identities in intercultural communication requires abandoning the more traditional method of ascribing social categories a priori. The paper ends by exploring the validity of using the term English as a lingua franca when interactants possess, and make relevant, a number of different social categories when speaking in English.

The in-depth interview as a research tool for investigating the online intercultural communication of Asian Internet users in relation to ethics in intercultural research

Virtual intercultural communication is of great interest in intercultural research. How can a researcher gain access to this field of investigation if s/he does not or only partially speaks the languages used by the subjects? This study is an example of how categories relevant to research can be accessed through in-depth interviews. The interview method generates an interactive awareness process to which both partners contribute in equal measure, and which complies with the requirements of intercultural research ethics.

Identity Construction as Nexus of Multimembership: Attempts at Reconciliation Through an Online Intercultural Communication Course

Using situated learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991) and communities of practice (Wenger, 1998) as our theoretical framework, we focused on two female graduate students in applied linguistics as each attempted to negotiate memberships in multiple communities during an international exchange program. Eleven students at six universities took part in an internet-based intercultural communication course in addition to courses at their host universities, generating data in the form of online postings, final course papers, e-mails to the instructor, and retrospective evaluations. Ines, a Mexican student in Canada, appeared to reconcile her identity successfully as a nexus of multimembership. Adrienne, a U.S. student living in Mexico, attempted to participate in practices at her host university but felt marginalized. Our analysis demonstrates the difficulty, complexity, and sometimes the impossibility of reconciliation as a process for weaving a nexus of multimembership into one identity when encountering new practices across national borders.