ERIC Number: EJ1032505
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Feb
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1094-3501
EISSN: N/A
Fostering Foreign Language Learning through Technology-Enhanced Intercultural Projects
Chen, Jen Jun; Yang, Shu Ching
Language Learning & Technology, v18 n1 p57-75 Feb 2014
The main aim of learning English as an international language is to effectively communicate with people from other cultures. In Taiwan, learners have few opportunities to experience cross-cultural communication in English. To create an authentic EFL classroom, this one-year action research study carried out three collaborative intercultural projects using web-based tools (online forums, weblogs, Skype, and email) in a 7th grade EFL class. The projects were designed to improve students' language skills and intercultural communicative competence (ICC). To triangulate the findings, qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect the data; specifically, questionnaires, interviews, and document analyses were used to investigate the learners' responses and learning processes. The results revealed that the participants had strong positive attitudes towards technology-enhanced intercultural language learning (TEILI), which enabled the learners to experience authentic language learning that fostered linguistic competence and ICC. The findings suggest that TEILI approximates real-life learning contexts by allowing students to use a language for the same purposes that they will use it outside school.
Descriptors: English (Second Language), Foreign Countries, Intercultural Communication, Action Research, Cooperative Learning, Grade 7, Web Based Instruction, Language Skills, Interpersonal Competence, Questionnaires, Intervals, Documentation, Content Analysis, Learning Processes, Student Attitudes, Technology Uses in Education
University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center. 1859 East-West Road #106, Honolulu, HI 96822. Tel: 808-956-9424; Fax: 808-956-5983; e-mail: llt@hawaii.edu; Web site: http://llt.msu.edu
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 7; Middle Schools; Junior High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Taiwan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A