THE DYNAMICS AMONG NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING ONLINE LEARNERS’ LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY, COPING MECHANISMS, AND CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE: IMPLICATIONS FOR EFFECTIVE PRACTICE FOR ONLINE CROSS-CULTURAL COLLABORATION A dissertation submitted to the Kent State University College and Graduate School of Education, Health, and Human Services in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Chun-Ming Ou Aug 2012 © Copyright, 2012 by Chun-Ming Ou All Rights Reserved ii A dissertation written by Chun-Ming Ou B.A., National Kaohsiung Normal University, 1991 M.A., National Taiwan Normal University, 1997 Ph. D., Kent State University, 2012 Approved by ___________________________, Co-Director, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Christopher Was ___________________________, Co-Director, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Kenneth Cushner ___________________________, Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Vilma Seeberg Accepted by ___________________________, Director, School of Foundations, Leadership, Albert Ingram and Administration ___________________________, Dean, College and Graduate School of Daniel F. Mahony Education, Health, and Human Services iii OU, CHUN-MING, Ph.D., Aug 2012 Educational Psychology THE DYNAMICS AMONG NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING ONLINE LEARNERS’ LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY, COPING MECHANISMS, AND CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE: IMPLICATIONS FOR EFFECTIVE PRACTICE FOR ONLINE CROSS-CULUTRAL COLLABORATION. (320 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Albert Ingram, Ph.D. Cross-cultural online collaboration has evolved as an inevitable trend that people influenced by globalization cannot neglect. The primary purpose of this study was to discover major factors contributing to productive and effective online cross-cultural collaborative learning for people from diverse cultural backgrounds with varying levels of English language proficiency. Because of the preliminary nature of this study, ground theory (GT) methodology and data analysis were implemented. Participants included 23 American and 17 Taiwanese graduate students majoring in educational psychology. Divided into several problem-based learning (PBL) groups, they strived to collaborate solely online to finish two problem-based tasks on an online learning platform. Several major themes emerged. First, Taiwanese students’ persistent apprehension about English proficiency became the major barrier to their online collaborative learning. Second, their language apprehension evolved as problem focused and task oriented; to reach their goal, however, maintaining mental perseverance was vital. Third, exercising problem-focused coping strategies accompanied by proper cultural intelligence not only facilitated their online learning performance but also accelerated the acculturation process. Fourth, American peers’ encouragement and support in language and cultural knowledge played a key role in facilitating the overall success of the online cross-cultural collaboration. Finally, to verify the themes above, further empirical studies are necessary. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would never have been able to finish my dissertation without the guidance of my dissertation committee members. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my core advisor and mentor, Dr. Albert Ingram. With his profound knowledge, intelligence, caring and patience, I am the most blessed doctoral candidate in the world, enjoying an excellent atmosphere for pursuing knowledge and doing research. I would like to thank Dr. Ken Cushner, who led me into the field of cross-cultural psychology studies and from then on, has kept encouraging and supporting me. I would also like to thank Dr. Christopher Was, Dr. Vilma Seeberg, Dr. Hyun, Dr. Wu-Tien Wu in NTNU and my thesis advisor, Dr. Kuang-Chou Chui, for their helping me develop my knowledge background in psychology, linguistics, Eastern studies, philosophy and statistics. My special thanks also go to my trustworthy and professional editor Dr. Linda Meixner, whom I have been so fortunate to work with. I would like to thank my beloved parents and parents-in-law as well as my brother, Steven Ou and his spouse, Huai-Lin. They are always willing to help and give their best suggestions. Many thanks to my diligent students and hard-working colleagues in National Shin-Feng Senior High School--my research would not have been possible without their considerations and helps. I would also like to thank my wife, Brenda Tsai. She was always there, standing by me and cheering me up. As a Buddhist psychology researcher and practitioner, I would like prostrate to Buddha, Cundhi Bodhisattva, Dharma and Sangha. With compassion and diligence, I promise I will continue the righteous and intelligent path to the enlightenment. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1 Challenges Emerge ............................................................................................... 6 Language-Related Issues ................................................................................ 6 Impact of Information Technology .................................................................. 8 Habituated Preference ................................................................................... 10 Challenges of Collaboration ......................................................................... 13 Cultural Issues ............................................................................................... 14 Coping: Opportunities .......................................................................................... 16 A Brief Sketch of the Current Study .................................................................... 18 II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ...................................................................... 20 Diverse Aspects of Online Cross-Cultural Collaboration ................................... 21 Cooperative Versus Collaborative Learning .................................................... 21 Theoretical Foundations of Collaboration and Perspectives .............................. 25 Gestalt Psyhology .......................................................................................... 25 Cognitive Development Theory: Epistemological Roots .............................. 28 Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Perspectives on Collaborative Learning ............... 30 Feasible Strategies and Conditions for Collaborative Learning .................... 32 Collaboration in the Cross-Cultural Setting ................................................... 34 Cross-cultural Collaborative Learning Online ............................................... 39 Language and Human Cognition ......................................................................... 42 Why and How Language-Related Issues Pose Challenges ............................ 42 Inner speech, cognitive development, and intersubjectivity ..................... 43 L1 is crucial .............................................................................................. 47 Impact of other language-related issues ..................................................... 49 Challenges Related to Cross-Cultural Collaboration ........................................... 55 Psychological Adjustment: Coping Mechanisms ................................................ 62 Categorizing Coping Strategies ....................................................................... 63 Activating Coping Strategies ........................................................................... 66 Blurring the Boundaries of Coping Strategies ................................................. 67 Maladaptive and Controversial Coping Strategies ......................................... 70 Coping: Dispositional or Situational .............................................................. 73 Implications of Coping in the Educational Setting .............................................. 75 v Coping Strategies Interpreted in a Cultural Context ............................................ 77 Coping, Cultural Intelligence, and Acculturation ............................................... 80 Contribution of Cultural Intelligence and Coping to Acculturation ............... 82 Developing Effective Practices for Online Cross-cultural Collaborative Learning ........................................... 84 Five Themes ..................................................................................................... 88 III. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 91 Theoretical Framework: Grounded Theory and Mixed Design ........................... 91 Research Methodology: Grounded Theory (GT) ............................................ 91 GT Data Analysis Procedure .......................................................................... 98 Why and How GT Methodology Is Applicable to the Current Study ........... 101 Originality and pilot study ...................................................................... 101 Discovering themes and establishing testable theories .......................... 102 Method ............................................................................................................... 105 Participants ...................................................................................................