Enhancing Intercultural Communicative Competence through cross-cultural interactions in digital environments

Kristi Jauregi, Marian Schoenmakers, Rick de Graaff & Silvia Canto

Utrecht University and partners

Structure

• Introduction to NIFLAR • Epistemic approaches to ICC• Teaching & research focus in NIFLAR• Experiences with videowebcommunication (Portuguese)• Experiences with virtual worlds (Spanish)• Preliminary results• Conclusions

NIFLAR• European project: Lifelong Learning• Time span: 1 January 2009 – 31 December 2010• Partners: Universities of

– Utrecht in the Netherlands– Granada and Valencia in Spain– Coimbra in Portugal – Palacky in Olomouc the Czech Republic,– Nevsky and Novosibirsk in Russia– Concepción in ChileTELL Consult (Netherlands)Secondary schools, in Spain and The NetherlandsCoordination: Utrecht University

• Target languages: Dutch, Portuguese, Russian & Spanish

Background to NIFLARLimitations in FLL & teaching contexts. Teaching:

• Teacher, book and grammar oriented• Scarce opportunities for FL learners to engage in meaningful

interaction with native peers • Intercultural awareness insufficiently addressed (Lace Report, 2007) • ICT underused (ICT-Impact Report, 2006) • Low motivation, low levels of achievement, possible drop outs

(Final Report High Level Group of Multilingualism, 2007)

To enrich and innovate academic programs of foreign languages and make them more rewarding and relevant

Promoting blended learning

Through the use of two virtual environments:– Video web communication (Adobe Connect) – 3D Virtual Worlds (Second Life / Open SIM)

To study the added value of implementing networked interactions

Two target groups: – FL learners at secondary and tertiary levels – Pre- (in) service teachers

Main objectives of NIFLAR:

NIFLAR

Second Life

Open Sim

Adobe connect

Second Life

•3D world• Link on the internet: download (free)•Requisites: Good computers & internet connection•+ 18• You are an avatar & can meet other avatars•Action: walk, sit down, dance, fly, take & give objects•Teleport to other places: Berlin, Paris, Barcelona•Communication via chat & voiced chat •Many different scenarios / contexts•Ideal environment for role plays & games

ICC Epistemology• European Framework of Reference• Kramsch (1993, 1998): language in culture• Byram (1997): 5 savoirs• Zarate et al. (2004): mediation, empathy • Müller-Jacquier (2003): linguistic study of ICC• Belz 2005: linguistic analysis of telecollaborative

encounters

•Crucial in foreign language learning processes (CEFR)•Chapter 5, the user / learner’s competences:

General competencesCommunicative competences

Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) in the Common European Framework of Reference

EXISTENTIAL

EXISTENTIAL

COMPETENCE

COMPETENCE

SKILLS &

SKILLS &

KNOW-H

OW

KNOW-H

OW

DECLARATIVE DECLARATIVE KNOWLEDGEKNOWLEDGE

GENERALGENERAL

COMPETENCESCOMPETENCES

ValuesValues

AttitudesAttitudes

Knowledege of the Knowledege of the worldworld

Intercultu

ral

Intercultu

ral skills

skills

Practical skills

Practical skills

(Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment …………..

Sociocultural kn.Sociocultural kn.InterculturalIntercultural awarenessawareness

ABILI

TY T

O LE

ARN

ABILI

TY T

O LE

ARN

BeliefsBeliefs Personality factorsPersonality factors

Cognitive stylesCognitive styles

PRAGMATIC

PRAGMATIC

COMPETENCES

COMPETENCES

SOCIOLIN

GUISTIC

SOCIOLIN

GUISTIC

COMPETENCES

COMPETENCES

LINGUISTIC LINGUISTIC COMPETENCESCOMPETENCES

COMMUNICATIVECOMMUNICATIVE

LANGUAGELANGUAGE

COMPETENCESCOMPETENCES

Interaction Interaction schemataschemata

Discourse Discourse competencecompetence

Functional Functional competencecompetence

Expressions of Expressions of folk wisdomfolk wisdom

Dialect and accent

Dialect and accentLexicalLexicalGrammaticalGrammatical

Register differences

Register differences

Politeness

Politeness

conventions

conventions

Linguistic Linguistic

markers of social

markers of social

relationsrelations

(Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment …………..

PhonologicalPhonologicalSemanticSemantic

Analysis of Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) in language learning (1)

Byram’s 5 savoirs (1997: 50-4) :

1.Attitudes: curiosity and openness, readiness to suspend disbelief about other cultures and belief about one’s own.

2.Knowledge of social groups and their products and practices in one’s own and one’s interlocutor’s country, and of the general processes of societal and individual interaction.

3.Skills of interpreting and relating: ability to interpret a document or event from another culture, to explain it and relate it to documents from one’s own.

4.Skills of discovery and interaction: ability to acquire new knowledge of a culture and cultural practices and the ability to operate knowledge, attitudes and skills under the constraints of real-time communication and interaction.

5.Critical cultural awareness/ political education: an ability to evaluate critically and on the basis of explicit criteria perspectives, practices and products in one’s own and other cultures and countries.

Byram’s 5 savoirs (1997: 50-4) :

1.Attitudes: curiosity and openness, readiness to suspend disbelief about other cultures and belief about one’s own.

2.Knowledge of social groups and their products and practices in one’s own and one’s interlocutor’s country, and of the general processes of societal and individual interaction.

3.Skills of interpreting and relating: ability to interpret a document or event from another culture, to explain it and relate it to documents from one’s own.

4.Skills of discovery and interaction: ability to acquire new knowledge of a culture and cultural practices and the ability to operate knowledge, attitudes and skills under the constraints of real-time communication and interaction.

5.Critical cultural awareness/ political education: an ability to evaluate critically and on the basis of explicit criteria perspectives, practices and products in one’s own and other cultures and countries.

•Bernd Müller-Jacquier, 2003: Linguistic awareness of cultures proposes a framework of analysis for ICC:

• Social meaning• Speech acts• Organization of conversation• Choice & development of topics• Directness / indirectness• Register• Para-verbal factors• Non-verbal means of expression• Culture specific values / attitudes• Culture specific behavior

•Belz 2005: Attitudes > positive/negative appraisal

Analysis of ICC in language learning (2)

Research questions in NIFLAR

Within the general research focus: what is the added value of implementing these environments?

1. Can videowebcommunication and virtual worlds, as tools enabling synchronous cross-cultural interaction between FLLs & NSs, contribute to the development of their ICC?

2. Are there differences according to the environments being used?

3. Are virtual interactions through VWC and SL with NSs more conducive to ICC than traditional classroom settings?

Conditions: Task, Interaction, Environment, Setting

Partial questions

a) Do the interaction tasks meet the conditions necessary to enhance ICC?

b) How does ICC emerge during interaction between FLLs and NSs when they negotiate thematic cultural issues?

c) Do the virtual environments (as opposed to the classroom setting) contribute to the development of ICC? How?

RQ1a: Task elaboration criteria

1. Have IC language learning potential

•Expose the learners to intercultural relevant target language input (rich, authentic & multimodal; non premodified input; focus on social, cultural & interactional content)

•Elicit meaningful intercultural target language use:– involve some kind of “gap” (cultural, social interactional information, reasoning). –promote authentic interaction exchange–promote learning by doing by eliciting cognitive processes (input processing, pushed output and interaction, reflection on intercultural issues) –promote collaborative learning (two-way communication)

2. Fit the learner Meet learners’ needs, interests & idiosyncrasies

3. Have a positive impact.

Be motivating (Dörnyei, 2001), encourage a positive attitude and openness towards the TL and culture.

4. Meet the affordances of ICT tool

MultimodalityAccess to gestures (VWC)Dynamism, Action learning (SL)

Byram, 1997; Chapelle, 2003; Doughty & Long, 2003; Ellis, 2003; Jauregi & Bañados, 2008; Willis, 1996, Deutschmann et al 2009). Tasks should:

RQ 1b: How does ICC emerge during interaction between FLLs and NSs?

What interlocutors say (topics) & how they say it (skills):

How they negotiate, interpret, relate, discover, interact and evaluate in interaction (Byram, 1997):a) Attitudes

i. (positive/negative attitudinal, affective, judgmental, appreciative appraisals: Belz, 2005)

ii. Engagementiii. Mitigation and intensification related to speech acts (face-

threatening acts)b) Knowledgec) Critical awareness

Data

a) Recordings of interactions in VWC, (SL and traditional classroom setting)

b) Pre- & post- oral tests

c) Pre- mid-, post- questionnaires

d) Interviews

Experiences videowebcommunication

Portuguese - WVC Experiences

Target language: Portuguese

Participating: Univ. Utrecht, Valencia & Coimbra

Pilot: June-July 2009• 3 sessions from 45-60 minutes per task• 4 students UU - 4 students (pre-service teachers) UC• 1 task: Vamos conhecer Portugal (B1/B2)• 2 students UV - 2 students (pre-service teachers) UC• 1 task: Vamos a uma festa (A2)

Portuguese - WVC Experiences

Pilot evaluation:• students enjoyed the experience, but the same time

schedule per session for everybody is problematic;• tasks (2): only minor adaptations needed;• improvements necessary on session procedure,

including the uniform saving of session recordings by the students (for purposes of analyses and research);

Portuguese - WVC ExperiencesFollow-up - Utrecht-Coimbra - Feb-March 2010• 8 students UU (volunteers) - 8 pre-service teachers UC• 2 new tasks: - Trabalhar em Portugal (B1)

- Vamos às compras (B1)• VWC inserted as a part of Language Course 3 (B1)• Session scheduled by students (but in the same week)• Control group: standard Language Course 3

• Objective: global comparing of skills (mid- en final course tests) and attitudes & motivations (pre-, mid-, post-questionnaires)

Portuguese - WVC ExperiencesTasks: • 3 sessions per task, 45-60 minutes per session.• Made by supervised MA-students in Coimbra (in a language pedagogy

course).• Build around a theme (learning about Coimbra, work, health, shopping,

security, parties, etc in Portugal).• Authentic and functional appeal to different language skills, with growing

complexity.• Objectives of the task are explicitly mentioned at the beginning of the

written guidelines (for the learner).

Portuguese - WVC Experiences

EVALUATION• The Portuguese cluster (teachers) had no previous

experience with VWC in a learning environment, so they also had to learn a lot.

• Time and energy was focused on preparation and organization of the VWC-sessions, and on the questionnaires.

• Thorough analysis on the pre-, mid- and post-questionnaires still has to be done.

Portuguese - WVC Experiences

EVALUATION• The quality of the recordings is relatively good.• The questionnaires are more difficult to analyse statistically, as

the students did not always respond, even after three or more reminders. Possible reasons:• tecnical problems: the link did not work always right away;• no familiarity with Survey Monkey;• students have no (direct) benefit from the questionnaires;• the questionnaires came after the VWC-sessions, at home.

Portuguese - WVC ExperiencesEVALUATION• However, some comments in the questionnaires do suggest

that VWC-tasks with native speakers are seen by them as a good strategy in language learning (innovative, efficient, authentic, pragmatic, ludic, meaningful, useful).

• Seeing a faces and gestures is also highly valued.• 2 students of the Control group would like very much to take

part in such a project! (Maybe from hearing colleagues talking about their VWC-sessions?)

Experiences with virtual worlds in NIFLAR• Pilot 1: June-July 2009 (4 participants; 4 tasks)

– Objective: explore the possibilities of the existing world

• Pilot 2: November-december 2009- Scenarios for interaction task driven

- Participants:

-4 student teachers (Valencia, Granada)

- 8 FLL of Spanish (Utrecht)

- Integration in language course (B2)

- Scenarios for 5 tasks developed

- Sessions recorded and evaluated > follow-up

Follow-up• February – April 2010• Part of a bigger research study (2 experimental & 1 control groups,

at random)• TL: Spanish, B1• Tasks integrated in academic curricula (obligatory for FLls)

• Participants: 14 FLls (UU) & 7 pre-service teachers (UV)• Interaction formats: triads• Tutorials + 5 interaction sessions (1-2 hours)• Data: recordings, pre-mid- and post-questionnaires,

interviews, pre- & post-tests

Tasks in Second Life

Task 1

Brilliant people!

-pre-task & task-NS & FLL

Brilliant people!

-pre-task & task-NS & FLL

Scenarios:-Participants go to an apartment:

look around, exchange info, watch pictures, eat and drink-Decide where to go: cinema,

Valencia, museum-Describe a brilliant person

Scenarios:-Participants go to an apartment:

look around, exchange info, watch pictures, eat and drink-Decide where to go: cinema,

Valencia, museum-Describe a brilliant person

Example interaction fragment: task 1

Tasks in Second Life

Task 2 People and adventures:

-pre-task & task-NS & FLL

People and adventures:

-pre-task & task-NS & FLL

Scenarios:-Participants meet at a restaurant and have

to decide where to go to on holidays: winter/summer holidays.

-Go to a hotel (reception/room) -- Depending on their choice go to the

summer or winter slurl

Scenarios:-Participants meet at a restaurant and have

to decide where to go to on holidays: winter/summer holidays.

-Go to a hotel (reception/room) -- Depending on their choice go to the

summer or winter slurl

Meaningful fragments: task 2

Task 3

Scenarios:Participants choose 2 out of these possible

scenes:-Birthday party / guests for dinner

- At the bar / on the bus

Scenarios:Participants choose 2 out of these possible

scenes:-Birthday party / guests for dinner

- At the bar / on the bus

People and films:Preparing, filming and evaluating scenes

Task 3

RequestsRequests

GreetingsGreetings

Results post-questionnaires SL:The environmentN=14

X: 3,64; N:14)

Results post-questionnaires: speech partner

Results post-questionnaires: learning

Results post-questionnaires: learning

To ta

lk m

ore

fluen

tly

Results post-questionnaires: learning

Negative aspects• Problemas técnicos (13):

• Mitigated (5): “algunos”problemas, “a veces”• Upscaled (3): “muy negativo”, “muchos problemas”, “muy mal”

• Perdimos mucho tiempo (2)• Por eso hemos hecho muchas veces algo otra vez y eso era

muy irritante. • Second Life y Camtasia (la grabación) no funcionaba bien todo

el tiempo• No poder grabar las sesiones desde casa• Si, al inicio fue difícil usar SL. • No todo las tareas eran muy claro. • No me gusta nada SL. • No tengo aspectos negativos.

Positive aspects of the project• Hablar con nativos (4). • Hablar con una chica española, sobre temas interesantes. • He mejorado mucho mi español oral y también he aprendido muchos

aspectos culturales y nuevas palabras. También mi interlocutora española me ha corregido mucho y he aprendido mucho de esto.

• He ganado más confianza en mi misma hablando la lengua meta (2)• Ha sido una experienca más real que durante las normales clases del curso

(3). • La oportunidad para practicar todo que ha aprendido en clase con una

persona de Espana. • Lo positivo del proyecto era conocer las diferencias culturales entre

Holanda y Espana y naturalmente hablar en espanol. • El aspecto positivo del proyecto es que he aprendido mucho del proyecto

(2). Por ejemplo tener más confianza cuando hablo en espanol. • Que no puedes ver tus compañeras.

Preliminary project results

Research questions

Within the general research focus: what is the added value of implementing these environments? Work in progress

1. Can videowebcommunication and virtual worlds, as tools enabling synchronous cross-cultural interaction between FLLs & NSs, contribute to the development of their ICC? YES

2. Are there differences according to the environments being used? YES

3. Are virtual interactions through VWC and SL with NSs more conducive to ICC than traditional classroom settings? YES

Conditions: Task, Interaction, Environment, Setting

Showing interest in knowing others’ cultures & introducing one’s own through discourse

Creating a supportive

environment

When facing differences

Aspects influencing ICC

Means

•Being engaged: Offering informationNegotiating meaningSharing experiences & knowledgeExpressing astonishmentListeningShowing understanding

•Taking initiative:Asking questionsRequesting information, clarification, specification

•Jokes•Laughing•Visual cues

•Sharing experiences

Building bridges

•Contrasting differences•Trying to understand•Mitigating (a lo mejor, puede ser, creo que, es un poco mal visto, todav’ia no es normal…)•From generalisations to concretisations•Showing ability to change perspectives“Yo creo que llegará un momento en el que en España pase lo mismo” N3•Criticizing own customs (example)

Building bridges

•Personality factors•IC language proficiency level•Willingness to communicate

Participants negotiate intercultural communication by:

Is there a development?

Comparing session 1 & 5:– More engagement– More willingness to communicate– More open– FLLs capable of emulating interaction styles

(intensification, repetition) of NSs in latest interactions (but not perceptible in written post tests of pragmatic perception)

Conclusions: enhancing ICC foreign language education through VWC & SL (1)

1. Challenging, motivating and innovative learning environments.

2. Offer opportunities for real-life communication with native speakers of the target language.

3. ICC seems to be enhanced as rich linguistic and intercultural learning sequences emerge.

4. Participants favour experiences of enjoyment and success. 5. Support authenticity of learning by favouring motivation. 6. Significant impact of SL & VWC interactions on willingness to

communicate.

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