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The Effects of a Virtual Exchange on Language Skills and Intercultural Competence

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The Effects of a Virtual Exchange on Language Skills and Intercultural Competence THE EFFECTS OF A VIRTUAL EXCHANGE ON LANGUAGE SKILLS AND INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE By Theresa Schenker A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY German Studies 2012 ABSTRACT THE EFFECTS OF A VIRTUAL EXCHANGE ON LANGUAGE SKILLS AND INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE By Theresa Schenker This dissertation explores the effects of a cross-cultural, cross-lingual virtual exchange on students’ foreign language skills and intercultural competence. Specifically, the dissertation investigates the effects of students’ participation in a twelve-week telecollaborative exchange on their use of syntactic complexity in foreign language writing as well as their self-assessment and demonstration of intercultural competence. The basis for this study was a telecollaborative project between a third-year German class at a US university and an advanced English class at a German high school. The study combined the use of one-on-one, group-on-group, as well as reflective computer-mediated communication tools, and aimed at investigating cultural and linguistic competence as impacted by an electronic exchange. At the heart of the study were 19 tandem e-mail partnerships between the American learners of German and the German learners of English. The partners each wrote two e-mails per week in their target languages discussing pre-assigned cultural topics. In addition, both classes met for two class-to-class videoconferences in which they discussed cultural topics of their own interest. One of them was held in German and one in English. Additionally, there was a reflective component to the study. The American students kept a bi-weekly blog in which they reflected on their learning experience, exchanged ideas and learned from and with each other. The research questions explored the effects of the virtual exchange on the American students’ interest in cultural learning, use of syntactic complexity in their writing, self- assessment of intercultural competence, and development of intercultural competence. Based on sociocultural theory (Lantolf, 1994), pushed-output hypothesis (Swain, 1995) and Fantini’s (2000) model of intercultural competence, the analysis included qualitative and quantitative measures and incorporated a variety of data sources including e-mail transcripts, blog transcripts, student essays and pre- and post-surveys. The results showed that there was no statistically significant effect of the exchange on students’ interest in cultural learning, but that this was high both before and after the exchange. Additionally, the results revealed that the students produced texts with greater syntactic complexity at the end of the exchange as compared to the beginning of the exchange. The students’ self-assessment of intercultural competence varied and there were no significant changes. However, the qualitative analysis showed several interesting patterns in the development of intercultural competence, for example the development of cross-cultural awareness and strategies for successful cross-cultural communication. In addition, the analysis revealed a connection between the amount of words written and the overall effects of the virtual exchange on students’ intercultural competence and syntactic complexity. Für meine Zwillingsschwester Christiane. Und für Robert, dessen Unterstützung unersetzlich war. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank everybody who supported and encouraged me in writing this dissertation. I am especially grateful to my dissertation chair, Senta Goertler, who was a great mentor to me from the very beginning of my graduate education and who has been a tremendous help throughout my dissertation stage. I would also like to thank the other members of my committee, Tom Lovik, Liz Mittman, and Debra Friedman, for their feedback and support. Additionally, I would like to thank Darren Ilett for allowing me to conduct the virtual exchange in his class and for all his help in planning and implementing the project. I am grateful to Roland Petersohn for his collaboration on the virtual exchange and for his assistance in implementing the cross-cultural project. Of course, special thanks go to all the participants in the exchange who made this dissertation possible. I also extend my gratitude to my family in Germany who believed in me and supported me throughout my education. Most of all, I would like to thank Robert Munro who bore with me during all the stressful times of completing a dissertation, who believed in me, who was always there to help in any way possible, and whose unconditional support throughout the past three years was invaluable. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... xi 1. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 1.1. Background ........................................................................................................................... 2 1.2. Definition of Terms ............................................................................................................... 8 1.3. Statement of the Problem and Purpose of the Study ............................................................. 9 1.4. Research Questions and Hypotheses ................................................................................... 15 1.5. Importance and Framework of the Study ............................................................................ 18 1.6. Web 2.0 and Foreign Language Education ......................................................................... 20 1.6.1. Definitions and Characteristics of Web 2.0 Tools ........................................................... 25 1.7. Outline of Dissertation ........................................................................................................ 31 2. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................ 33 2.1. Foreign Language Education in the US .............................................................................. 33 2.2. Second Language Acquisition Framework ......................................................................... 36 2.2.1. The Development of Second Language Writing .............................................................. 40 2.3. Culture, Intercultural Competence and Foreign Language Education ................................ 47 2.3.1. Definitions of Culture....................................................................................................... 47 2.3.2. Students’ Interest in Cultural Learning ............................................................................ 54 2.3.3. Definitions of Intercultural Competence .......................................................................... 56 2.3.4. Models of Intercultural Competence ................................................................................ 63 2.3.4.1. Kramsch: A Sphere of Interculturality .......................................................................... 65 2.3.4.2. Byram: Intercultural Communicative Competence Model ........................................... 66 2.3.4.3. Fantini: A Construct of Intercultural Competence ........................................................ 70 2.3.4.4. Deardorff: Pyramid Model of Intercultural Competence .............................................. 74 2.3.4.5. Bennett: Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) ........................... 76 2.3.4.6. The Assessment of Intercultural Competence ............................................................... 79 2.4. The Development of Intercultural Competence through CMC ........................................... 83 2.4.1. Virtual Exchanges in Foreign Language Education ......................................................... 89 2.4.2. Curricular and Pedagogical Motivation for Virtual Exchanges ....................................... 93 2.4.3. Empirical Evidence for Benefits of Virtual Exchanges ................................................... 95 2.4.4. Empirical Evidence for Challenges of Virtual Exchanges ............................................. 100 2.4.5. The Role of the Teacher in Virtual Exchanges .............................................................. 102 2.4.6. Factors Impacting Virtual Exchanges ............................................................................ 103 2.4.7. Preview of Study in Response to Previous Research ..................................................... 107 3. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY......................................................................................... 109 3.1. Context .............................................................................................................................. 109 3.2. Participants ........................................................................................................................ 111 3.3. Procedure ........................................................................................................................... 114 vi 3.4. Communication Media ...................................................................................................... 116 3.4.1. Instruments ....................................................................................................................
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