1. Intercultural Competence and Cultural Learning through Telecollaboration
- Author
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Schenker, Theresa
- Abstract
This paper presents the findings of a six-week telecollaborative project between sixteen American students enrolled in a second-semester German class at an American university and sixteen German students enrolled in an advanced English course at a high school in Germany. Students discussed various cultural topics with their partner in two e-mails per week. The study strove to reveal the American college students' understanding of their own and of German culture, their interest in cultural learning, and possible changes therein through telecollaboration. Moreover, the study aimed at exploring if intercultural competence can be exhibited, and thus assessed, through an e-mail exchange. For that purpose, Byram's model of intercultural competence (1997) was used for the data analysis. In addition, pre- and post-surveys were administered to help answer one of the research questions. The results of the study revealed that students' interest in cultural learning did not change significantly. Additionally, the results showed that the majority of Byram's objectives can be demonstrated in an e-mail exchange. (Contains 2 notes.)
- Published
- 2012