Online Intercultural Exchange Research Articles

Racial literacy development in online intercultural education in the EFL classroom

ABSTRACT Intercultural competence refers to people’s ability to understand and respect each other across all types of cultural barriers, and racial literacy stands out as a fundamental component of this competency. Particularly, in Korea, which has recently rapidly become a multicultural society, understanding diversity and cultivating racial literacy are important competencies. To achieve this goal, the teacher's role is important in developing and operating English classes using various teaching materials. This study introduces the development and application of an innovative online intercultural exchange programme conducted in a middle school using multiple technology resources. Going beyond dealing with superficial textbook coverage of multiculturalism, this programme encourages students to reflect on their own prejudices and share cultural experiences through engaging in technology-based open discussions and critical thinking about sensitive issues. In this paper, we first introduce the online intercultural exchange programme and teaching materials that we designed and operated for one semester and then carefully examine each class activity aimed at improving students’ intercultural competence and racial literacy. Finally, we report the presiding teacher’s reflections on the impact of this programme on the students in the class and suggest points for further discussion.

Online Learning Platform Development

This research focuses on enhancing the effectiveness of online learning platforms for language learning by integrating principles from software engineering, instructional design, and multimedia resources. Emphasizing the development of platforms conducive to transnational cultural engagement and equitable access, the study leverages the ADDIE model for instructional design, integrating task-based language teaching and online intercultural exchanges. Key to this approach is the development of user-friendly interfaces and content that supports diverse learning styles through multimedia integration, including social media, gaming, and virtual environments. The study also addresses the digital divide by ensuring accessibility across different regions and socioeconomic groups. The research methodology includes a comprehensive literature review, needs analysis focused on Arabic language learning, and the application of multimedia authoring principles. The ADDIE model guides the creation and evaluation of educational content, while software engineering principles ensure platform robustness and scalability. Findings indicate a significant potential for these platforms to enhance cognitive learning outcomes. The research validates the effectiveness of these integrations through experimental designs, user feedback, and expert evaluations. The study underscores the importance of digital literacy and intercultural competence in online learning environments and suggests emerging technologies like virtual and augmented reality for immersive experiences. In conclusion, the research demonstrates that well-designed online learning platforms, a synthesis of software engineering excellence, sound pedagogical frameworks, and engaging multimedia content, can substantially improve the learning experience and outcomes for language learners. The study recommends continuous integration of online methods with traditional learning to maximize educational benefits for language students.

Higher education students’ attitudes towards English as a lingua franca in virtual exchange settings

Abstract Mentored online intercultural and international collaboration projects using English as a lingua franca (ELF) in tertiary curricula are a valuable pedagogical approach to develop intercultural communicative competence. However, students’ perceptions of ELF in virtual exchange (VE) projects remain largely unexplored. This mixed-methods study investigates students’ attitudes towards ELF interactions in the context of online collaborations involving four countries in the Global North and South. The students participated in a six-week VE and collaboratively completed tasks set by their teachers. Results of the qualitative and quantitative data show that the students’ attitudes towards ELF interactions varied in different contexts and that the experience encouraged reflections, for instance, on students’ linguistic effectiveness in intercultural situations. The findings show a (re)evaluation of native and non-native English and attitudinal shift for some students. The results indicate that online intercultural exchanges can be a catalyst for students to reflect on international English usage and global ownership. The article provides implications for setting up ELF-VE projects regarding its potential to (trans)form ELF identities and gives advice for ELF practitioners.

Effects of participation in an online intercultural exchange on drivers of L2 learning motivation

While computer-mediated communication and online exchanges between students in second language (L2) pedagogy and research has long been established, recent technological advances have seen a growth in the number of projects undertaken and consequently studies published. This study utilized a mixed-methods approach to measure the effects on specific aspects of motivation for students learning English following a 10-week, multicultural virtual exchange project. Participants interacted both synchronously and asynchronously with other non-native English speakers from 10 different countries to make friends, share cultural interests, and practice English in a real-world, non-classroom setting. At the end of the project, participants were asked to complete a survey based on Dörnyei’s concept of the L2 motivational self system and Yashima’s theories on international posture about how their motivations for learning English had changed. The study suggests that extended interactions in a virtual exchange improve participants’ view of themselves as capable speakers, their motivation to become better speakers for their ideal future, and give them a broader perspective on their view of their place in the wider world. In contrast, motivations for learning English as a responsibility towards others were decreased.

Developing Selected Components of Translator Competence through the Analysis of Discourse Moves

One of the ways in which to augment the development of translator competence in courses delivered as part of university-level programmes in Translation Studies is the implementation of collaborative learning, as it has been promoted by D. Kiraly (2015), K. Klimkowski (2015), or G. Massey (2017). The work mode which seems to best support the development of translator competences through telecollaboration are team translation projects (cf. D. Kiraly & S. Hofmann 2016). However, Online Intercultural Exchanges (OIEs), which were initially introduced to develop foreign language learners’ intercultural communication competence, can also – when adequately geared towards that end – be implemented to foster other components of translator competence. This paper reports on research into what behavioural and cognitive components of the language and culture component of students’ translator competence can be identified for further development through the analysis of discourse moves in TS students’ online communication.

Academic Globalization via Online Intercultural Exchange – Sharing and Exchanging Ideas on Fan Tourism Between University Students in Italy and Japan

In this article, we would like to introduce a cross-cultural communication exchange between the University of Venice in Italy and our university in Japan, and we try to show how effective intercultural communication is for the processes of academic globalization. The aim of the exchange is to share ideas with presentations from students based on a theme of Fan Tourism. We incorporate Osland’s model of working abroad based on the hero’s journey and show the relationship between intercultural communication and Osland’s model. We also show the exchange output and discuss how transnational exchange can become a force driving and accelerating academic globalization.

Touching through the screen: embodied learning through on-line intercultural exchanges among primary school children

This paper is based on ethnographic research of Australian and South Korean primary school students’ experiences of on-line synchronous intercultural exchanges as part of a school partnership. Starting with an embodied understanding of learning, I discuss the applicability of body pedagogies to the on-line context in a classroom setting by analysing how the institutional dimension (‘situated epistemic relations’) informed how the children were taught to engage during on-line intercultural exchanges in relation to the children’s embodied experiences of the exchanges (‘practical epistemological analysis’). Through a more holistic approach that includes the body as integral to the students’ digitally-mediated interactions, this paper provides a deeper understanding of the students’ intercultural learning that is not limited to a cognitive focus on language learning and skill acquisition. I conclude with thoughts on future research directions including how children’s embodied experiences of intercultural exchanges may contribute to the longer-term development of an ‘intercultural habitus’.

Organization, Implementation and Analysis of Telecollaboration in Two Educational Projects

This article aims to describe how technology can help address the methodological challenges that can be found in the organization and collection of data during telecollaboration among foreign language students. The study investigates the interactions of secondary school learners of English as a foreign language during task-based telecollaboration with secondary school learners of English from a different cultural and linguistic background. The research focuses on two telecollaborative projects in which the same participants from Bulgaria and students from two different schools in Spain participated in synchronous videoconferencing sessions on culture-related topics. Various data collection instruments were used to provide the triangulation of the findings, namely, video recordings of the telecollaborative interactions, interviews, questionnaires, and field observations. The data was processed with the help of MAXQDA software (https://www.maxqda.com). The article reveals numerous challenges for the participating students and teachers, as well as for the investigators in the organization and implementation of telecollaboration in educational projects. These findings are valuable and could help students, teachers, and researchers to predict and solve such challenges before starting an online intercultural exchange project in school setting. This article also presents a case study of using MAXQDA data analysis software to assist qualitative analysis of the data from learners’ interactions in a telecollaborative learning environment. We demonstrate that MAXQDA enables comprehensive and in-depth analysis from multiple perspectives when analyzing students’ online interactions in an intercultural setting. Importantly, MAXQDA permits us to code and analyze audio and video files without transcribing them.

A Telecollaboration Project on Giving Online Peer Feedback: Implementing a Multilateral Virtual Exchange During a Pandemic

Telecollaboration, also called virtual exchange or online intercultural exchange, is a form of collaborative learning whereby language learners in different locations engage in computer-mediated communication to complete tasks online. There is ample evidence that telecollaboration promotes the acquisition of language skills, intercultural competence, and digital literacies. Challenges faced implementing virtual exchanges include differences in time zones, learning objectives, academic calendars, and cultural attitudes. The present article describes a case of a multilateral telecollaboration project based on the facilitated dialogue model involving four institutions—two in Europe and two in the United States—that was designed to prepare students for the experience of giving online peer feedback on collaborative writing assignments. Our initial goal was to explore the challenges students would face and the benefits they would receive from a complex telecollaboration project involving multiple institutions and two task sequences: 1) input and reflection on giving and receiving peer feedback, 2) completion of the collaborative writing task to be peer reviewed. However, new challenges and opportunities emerged after the switch to emergency e-learning and remote teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic. Relying upon multiple data sources—including correspondence, observations, class discussions, surveys, reflective writing, and information stored in virtual learning environments—our methods of data collection involved convenience sampling, while data analysis was predominantly descriptive. Our results demonstrate that even during a global pandemic, students and instructors face similar logistical challenges and reap similar benefits as has been reported in the literature. Yet our experience also reveals the resiliency of telecollaboration in the face of extreme disruption as well as the potential to exploit virtual exchange to develop learning strategies—such as methods for giving and receiving peer feedback—and meta-awareness of how language is used in the real-world—such as the implications of English as a lingua franca.

Online intercultural exchange: A case study in work and organisational psychology

ABSTRACT Acquiring intercultural competences is critical in order to avoid prejudice and increase tolerance in the global workforce. This case study describes and evaluates a learning experience designed to develop intercultural competences. Cross-cultural leadership theories were incorporated into the syllabus of a Work and Organizational Psychology (WOP) course. Students applied these theories while gaining international exposure through Online Intercultural Exchanges (OIE). Students from the University of Valencia (Spain) and the University Centre of Brasília (Brazil) participated in the exchange. The sample was composed of 22 undergraduate psychology students who worked in international pairs to address cross-cultural leadership. Results showed that students gained knowledge about cross-cultural leadership, developed intercultural competences, and evaluated the learning experience as satisfactory. These findings encourage the use of OIE to incorporate cross-cultural aspects in WOP.

Feedback and uptake in videoconferences for online intercultural exchange

Incidental focus on form (FonF) refers to the treatment of linguistic elements incidentally arising in a communicative setting during a meaning-focused activity. Videoconferencing for Online Intercultural Exchange (OIE) projects represents a typical meaning-focused communication activity but incidental FonF in group-based OIE projects is underexplored. The present study investigated the longitudinal changes of feedback types and factors related to successful uptake in Zoom-based videoconferences during a five-week OIE project. Chinese students and US students participated in weekly Zoom videoconferences to collect intercultural student ethnography data for their group projects with English as the exchange language. The videoconferences were recorded, transcribed, coded, and subsequently analysed quantitatively. Results returned that recast, clarification request, and translation were more frequently used but their frequencies did not significantly fluctuate throughout the OIE project, while metalinguistic feedback, elicitation, and explicit corrective feedback were less commonly used but their frequencies of use varied significantly. Repair provider (self-repair vs. other repair) and English proficiency were significantly associated with Chinese students’ successful uptake. The findings have implications for incorporating OIE and similar virtual exchange models into language teaching and learning.

Conceptualizing an inquiry-based lingua-cultural learning through telecollaborative exchanges.

In recent years, telecollaboration has been gaining popularity among scholars, teachers, and students engaged in foreign language education because it facilitates the use of Internet-mediated communication tools to connect language and culture learners in geographically distant locations. Telecollaboration, as currently viewed in academic and classroom settings, places greater emphasis on the development of learners' intercultural communicative competence. The problem with this approach is that this process may not consider the possibility that learners engaged in online intercultural exchanges could have limited or no knowledge about certain aspects of their own lingua-culture. We argue that, for learners to effectively share lingua-cultural knowledge with their online peers abroad, there must be a framework that supports the construction of learners' own intra-cultural knowledge to provide a solid foundation for intercultural learning and communication. In this paper, we develop an inquiry-based model of telecollaboration incorporating both inquiry and online exchange based on the inquiry cycle, which includes engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation. This paper builds a case for the application of inquiry-based telecollaboration in a real classroom environment, which could not only help learners obtain and eventually share more authentic, deeper knowledge about their lingua-culture, but also promote informed intercultural exchange.

Power, Politeness and Liquid Persona

This article explores pre-service English teachers’ self-reflections as participants in online intercultural exchange (VE). The aim is twofold: to examine participants’ perceptions of intercultural experiences in response to VE; and, to understand whether and how teacher trainees gain pedagogical insights through self-reflection situated in a cross-cultural online project. The study draws upon two iterations of exploratory research in a VE-project carried out with two cohorts of student groups. The first cycle involved students in Indonesia and Sweden, and the second cycle, a three-way collaboration, involved students in Argentina, Poland and Sweden. This article focuses on the Swedish side and examines empirical data incorporating e-diaries and interviews. A qualitative transcript analysis generated three intersecting themes: language and power, politeness, and participation through digital tools. Two theoretical constructs provide the analytical lens: persona (Hinrichsen & Coombs, 2014) and liquid interculturality (Dervin & Dirba, 2006). The findings challenge fixed notions of identity and interculturality, showing how participants engage in negotiations and fluid constructions of persona in response to perceived expectations of their interlocutors. The findings also indicate affordances of VE as a lingua franca contact zone in developing pre-service English teachers’ self-awareness and pedagogical competences.

Conceptualizing an inquiry-based lingua-cultural learning through telecollaborative exchanges

In recent years, telecollaboration has been gaining popularity among scholars, teachers, and students engaged in foreign language education because it facilitates the use of Internet-mediated communication tools to connect language and culture learners in geographically distant locations. Telecollaboration, as currently viewed in academic and classroom settings, places greater emphasis on the development of learners’ intercultural communicative competence. The problem with this approach is that this process may not consider the possibility that learners engaged in online intercultural exchanges could have limited or no knowledge about certain aspects of their own lingua-culture. We argue that, for learners to effectively share lingua-cultural knowledge with their online peers abroad, there must be a framework that supports the construction of learners’ own intra-cultural knowledge to provide a solid foundation for intercultural learning and communication. In this paper, we develop an inquiry-based model of telecollaboration incorporating both inquiry and online exchange based on the inquiry cycle, which includes engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation. This paper builds a case for the application of inquiry-based telecollaboration in a real classroom environment, which could not only help learners obtain and eventually share more authentic, deeper knowledge about their lingua-culture, but also promote informed intercultural exchange.

Conceptualizing an inquiry-based lingua-cultural learning through telecollaborative exchanges.

In recent years, telecollaboration has been gaining popularity among scholars, teachers, and students engaged in foreign language education because it facilitates the use of Internet-mediated communication tools to connect language and culture learners in geographically distant locations. Telecollaboration, as currently viewed in academic and classroom settings, places greater emphasis on the development of learners' intercultural communicative competence. The problem with this approach is that this process may not consider the possibility that learners engaged in online intercultural exchanges could have limited or no knowledge about certain aspects of their own lingua-culture. We argue that, for learners to effectively share lingua-cultural knowledge with their online peers abroad, there must be a framework that supports the construction of learners' own intra-cultural knowledge to provide a solid foundation for intercultural learning and communication. In this paper, we develop an inquiry-based model of telecollaboration incorporating both inquiry and online exchange based on the inquiry cycle, which includes engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation. This paper builds a case for the application of inquiry-based telecollaboration in a real classroom environment, which could not only help learners obtain and eventually share more authentic, deeper knowledge about their lingua-culture, but also promote informed intercultural exchange.

Understanding multilingual young adults and adolescents' digital literacies in the wilds: Implications for language and literacy classrooms

Changes in digital landscapes have complex effects on the meaning-making that they mediate (Thorne et al., 2015). There is a growing interest in examining the daily digital literacy practices of today’s multilingual young adults and adolescents, who are going to become the generation of future global communicators (Kim, 2016). Addressing current scholarship on multilingual digital literacy, this article examines research on digital literacy practices of multilingual young adults and adolescents beyond the classroom. Drawing upon multimodality and translanguaging perspectives that recognize literacy practices as ideological constructions produced within social contexts and across semiotic resources, the article identifies five emerging themes across the research. These themes are: recognizing cultural and linguistic diversity, exploring and constructing multifaceted identities online, leveraging technological affordances for communicating, gaining social support in virtual communities, and developing global citizenship through online intercultural exchanges. This article concludes with implications to support critical multilingualism and multimodality in language and literacy classrooms. 

Reflection on practice: an exploration of a virtual online collaboration as preparation for the year abroad

This paper describes an exploratory online intercultural exchange that took place between two universities, one in Ireland and the other in Germany. Students worked together virtually – across cultures and disciplines – on a project-based task for assessment. Based on an analysis of the reflective learning journals submitted over the course of the semester, there is evidence that a virtual online learning environment may be considered as an effective way of preparing students for a Year Abroad (YA), triggering a path of reflection and (inter-) cultural learning. From insights gained doing this Virtual Exchange (VE), a type of inventory for virtual online collaboration is suggested, which may serve as a task-checklist for future VEs.

Understanding multilingual young adults and adolescents' digital literacies in the wilds: Implications for language and literacy classrooms

<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Changes in digital landscapes have complex effects on the meaning-making that they mediate (Thorne et al., 2015). There is a growing interest in examining the daily digital literacy practices of today’s multilingual young adults and adolescents, who are going to become the generation of future global communicators (Kim, 2016). Addressing current scholarship on multilingual digital literacy, this article examines research on digital literacy practices of multilingual young adults and adolescents beyond the classroom. Drawing upon multimodality and translanguaging perspectives that recognize literacy practices as ideological constructions produced within social contexts and across semiotic resources, the article identifies five emerging themes across the research. These themes are: recognizing cultural and linguistic diversity, exploring and constructing multifaceted identities online, leveraging technological affordances for communicating, gaining social support in virtual communities, and developing global citizenship through online intercultural exchanges. This article concludes with implications to support critical multilingualism and multimodality in language and literacy classrooms.&nbsp;</span></font><br>

Examining the Value of Online Intercultural Exchange (OIE) in Cultivating Agency-focused, (Inter)Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Pedagogy: A Story of One Collaborative International Project for English Learners

This article makes two contributions to culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy for English learners (ELs). First, we argue for the value of expanding cultural responsiveness to include an intercultural framing that not only cultivates ELs’ pride in their multicultural heritage, but also fosters their identities and capacities as global citizens. Second, we make a case for foregrounding student agency as a necessary prerequisite for what has been conceptualized as the ultimate goal of Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: to be able to maintain one’s cultural practices, while simultaneously learning how to critique dominant power structures (Paris & Alim, 2017). We illustrate how such agency-focused, (inter)culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy can be enacted in an online intercultural exchange (OIE) program that brought together elementary school ELs in Michigan and Slovak English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners.

What do students learn in virtual exchange? A qualitative content analysis of learning outcomes across multiple exchanges

Virtual exchange refers to the engagement of groups of learners in online intercultural interaction and collaboration with partners from other cultural contexts or geographical locations as an integrated part of course work and under the guidance of educators and/or expert facilitators. This study presents a qualitative content analysis of reported learning outcomes by students of English in a Spanish university following their participation in one of thirteen online intercultural exchanges. Based on the analysis of 345 learner portfolios, several key themes were identified which provide insight into the type of learning which virtual exchange can contribute to second language classrooms. These included how virtual exchange contributed to overcoming students’ stereotypes, gaining confidence as communicators in their second language (L2) and reconceptualizing English as a tool for communication rather than as an abstract academic activity. A comparison of two models of virtual exchange within the dataset also revealed how task design can influence the outcomes of this activity.