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Enhancing intercultural communicative competence through online foreign language exchange: Taiwanese students’ experiences

Lin, W.; Shie, J.; Holmes, P.

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Authors

W. Lin

J. Shie



Abstract

From cross-cultural and comparative perspectives, this paper reports on a study which investigated students’ experiences of intercultural and foreign language learning through a six-month online language exchange project involving 30 Taiwanese secondary students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) and 10 British secondary students learning Mandarin. The paper focuses on the Taiwanese participants’ intercultural learning process and progress through online interactions on a class blog. Survey questionnaires were designed to examine the participants’ perceptions of intercultural and English learning online. Qualitative data collected through classroom observations, online materials, reflection logs and interviews were analysed and employed to explore students’ experiences. The findings indicate that students perceived development of both their English abilities and their interculturalcommunicativecompetence as a result of meaningful online peer interactions. However, intriguing emerging differences of learning attitudes between students from Taiwan and England were found, reflecting contrastive educational cultures between the two countries. This study aims to explore the processes of foreign language learning and intercultural interactions mediated by internet communication tools. Results shed light on the interaction between cultural heterogeneity and language communication. Suggestions are made about the future practice of online language exchanges and relevant next steps in researching this area.

Citation

Lin, W., Shie, J., & Holmes, P. (2017). Enhancing intercultural communicative competence through online foreign language exchange: Taiwanese students’ experiences. . Centre for Applied English Studies, The University of Hong Kong

Acceptance Date Mar 7, 2017
Publication Date Jan 1, 2017
Deposit Date Jun 20, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Pages 73-88
Series Number 4
Publisher URL http://www3.caes.hku.hk/ajal/index.php/ajal
Related Public URLs https://dro.dur.ac.uk/22073/

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