ESL Learners’ Intercultural Competence, L2 Attitudes and WEB 2.0 use in American Culture
Abstract
This study explores ESL learners’ intercultural communication, L2 attitudes, and their relationship to the use of Web 2.0 tools and technology. Survey responses were obtained from 24 intermediate ESL speakers living in the United States. The results reveal there is low correlation between learners’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and use of technology. However, the correlation is stronger for learners’ ICC and L2 attitudes. Although the findings in this study are not statistically significant, they indicate that there is potential for further investigating the variables at hand. Additionally, it is argued that intercultural competence should be made a part of the ESL classes, and that learners’ attitudes are imperative when it comes to interacting with people from other cultures.
Full text article
References
Abrams, Z. I. (2002). Surfing to cross-cultural awareness: Using internet-mediated projects to explore cultural stereotypes. Foreign Language Annals, 35, 141-160.
Arabski, J., & Wojtaszek, A. (Eds.). (2011). Aspects of culture in second language acquisition and foreign language learning. Heidelberg, DE: Springer.
Belz, J. A. (2003). Linguistic perspectives on the development of intercultural competence in telecollaboration. Language Learning & Technology, 7(2), 68-117.
Byram, M. (2000). Assessing intercultural competence in language teaching. Sprogforum, 18(6), 8-13.
Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Sydney, AU: Multilingual Matters.
Byram, M., Nicholas, A., & Stevens, D. (2001). Developing intercultural competence in practice. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Byram, M. (2008). From foreign language education to education for intercultural citizenship: Essays and reflections. Clevedon, UK: Multilignual Matters.
Byrnes, H. (2009). Revisiting the role of culture in the foreign language curriculum. The Modern Language Journal, 94, 315-336.
Chamberlain, S. P. (2005). Recognizing and responding to cultural differences in the education of culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Intervention in School and Clinic,40(4), 195-211.
Chun, D. M. (2011). Developing intercultural communicative competence through online exchanges. CALICO Journal, 28(2), 392-419.
Chun, D. M., & Wade, E. R. (2004). Collaborative cultural exchanges with CMC. In L. Lomicka & J. Cooke-Plagwitz (Eds.), Teaching with technology (pp. 220-247). Boston, MA: Heinle.
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 155-159.
de Saint Léger, D., & Storch, N. (2009). Learners’ perceptions and attitudes: Implications for willingness to communicate in an L2 classroom. System, 37(2), 269-285.
Elola, I., & Oskoz, A. (2008). Blogging: Fostering intercultural competence development in foreign language and study abroad contexts. Foreign Language Annals, 41(3), 454-477.
Fantini, A. E. (2006). Exploring and assessing intercultural competence. Retrieved June 22, 2001, from http://www.sit.edu/publications/docs/feil_research_report.pdf
Hall, J. K. (2002). Teaching and researching language and culture. London, UK: Longman/Pearson.
Hinkel, E. (2005). Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Lange, D. L., & Paige, R. M. (2003). Culture as the core: Perspectives on culture in second language learning. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
Larson-Hall, J. (2010). A guide to doing statistics in second language research using SPSS.
New York, NY: Routledge.
LoCastro, V. (2001). Individual differences in second language acquisition: attitudes, learner subjectivity, and L2 pragmatic norms. System, 29, 69-89.
Kramsch, C., & Thorne, S. (2002). Foreign language learning as a global communicative practice. In D. Block & D. Cameron (Eds.), Language learning and teaching in the age of globalization (pp. 83-100). London, UK: Routledge.
O’Dowd, R. (2006). The use of videoconferencing and e-mail as mediators of intercultural student ethnography. In J. Belz & S. Thorne (Eds.), Internet-mediated intercultural foreign language education (pp. 86-120). Boston, MA: Thompson Heinle.
O’Dowd, R., & Ritter, M. (2006). Understanding and working with “failed communication” in telecollborative exchanges. CALICO Journal, 23, 623-642.
Stahl, B. C. (2003). Cultural universality versus particularity in CMC. Journal of Global Information Technology Management, 7(4), 47-65.
Vogt, K. (2006). Can you measure attitudinal factors in intercultural communication? Tracing the development of attitudes in e-mail projects. ReCall, 18(2), 153-173.
Wade, E. R. (2005). Enhancing German language learners’ intercultural communicative competence through the on-line exchange project ICE (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of California, Santa Barbara.
Authors
Copyright (c) 2018 Jelena Vuksanovic
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This journal provides immediate and free open access to all its content and is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This means readers are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author, as long as proper attribution is given. This policy is consistent with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition of open access.