{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125871"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125871","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Cross-cultural collaboration via message board for cultural understanding and language learning","abstract":"This study describes a cross-cultural collaboration between English as a Foreign Language (EFL) college students in Taiwan and college students in the US via a message board. Through five weeks of online discussions, students in both groups changed their perspectives of the target culture. Some students also gained better insights and understanding of their own culture. Even though the EFL students didn't participate as actively as the US students due to linguistic barriers, cultural barriers and a lack of strong motivation, being able to use English in a meaningful and communicative way allowed them to build more confidence in English writing. The findings confirm the usefulness of using message boards to facilitate culture learning and international collaboration. They also show the potential of incorporating cross-cultural online discussion activities in foreign language classrooms. However, language teachers will need to plan online collaborations carefully and design interactive activities to promote students' participations.","abstract_html":"This study describes a cross-cultural collaboration between English as a Foreign Language (EFL) college students in Taiwan and college students in the US via a message board. Through five weeks of online discussions, students in both groups changed their perspectives of the target culture. Some students also gained better insights and understanding of their own culture. Even though the EFL students didn't participate as actively as the US students due to linguistic barriers, cultural barriers and a lack of strong motivation, being able to use English in a meaningful and communicative way allowed them to build more confidence in English writing. The findings confirm the usefulness of using message boards to facilitate culture learning and international collaboration. They also show the potential of incorporating cross-cultural online discussion activities in foreign language classrooms. However, language teachers will need to plan online collaborations carefully and design interactive activities to promote students' participations.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Chen, Chiao-ling"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Teaching English as a Second Language","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Sadler, Randall","Cziko, Gary"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2006,"date_issued":"2006","date_published":"2006","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:02Z","subjects":["Teaching English as Second Language","Cross-cultural Collaboration","EFL Students","Taiwan","US College Students","Message Board","Online Discussions","Cultural Perspectives","Linguistic Barriers","Cultural Barriers","Motivation","Confidence in English Writing","Culture Learning","International Collaboration","Online Discussion Activities","Language Classrooms","Interactive Activities","Student Participation"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Copyright by Chiao-Ling Chen, 2006"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125871","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Sadler, Randall","Cziko, Gary"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Chen, Chiao-ling"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2006"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation/Thesis","text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Teaching English as a Second Language"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Teaching English as Second Language","Cross-cultural Collaboration","EFL Students","Taiwan","US College Students","Message Board","Online Discussions","Cultural Perspectives","Linguistic Barriers","Cultural Barriers","Motivation","Confidence in English Writing","Culture Learning","International Collaboration","Online Discussion Activities","Language Classrooms","Interactive Activities","Student Participation"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright by Chiao-Ling Chen, 2006"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125871"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["This study describes a cross-cultural collaboration between English as a Foreign Language (EFL) college students in Taiwan and college students in the US via a message board. Through five weeks of online discussions, students in both groups changed their perspectives of the target culture. Some students also gained better insights and understanding of their own culture. Even though the EFL students didn't participate as actively as the US students due to linguistic barriers, cultural barriers and a lack of strong motivation, being able to use English in a meaningful and communicative way allowed them to build more confidence in English writing. The findings confirm the usefulness of using message boards to facilitate culture learning and international collaboration. They also show the potential of incorporating cross-cultural online discussion activities in foreign language classrooms. However, language teachers will need to plan online collaborations carefully and design interactive activities to promote students' participations."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Cross-cultural collaboration via message board for cultural understanding and language learning"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Sadler, Randall","Cziko, Gary"],"dc:creator":["Chen, Chiao-ling"],"dc:date":["2006"],"dc:description":["This study describes a cross-cultural collaboration between English as a Foreign Language (EFL) college students in Taiwan and college students in the US via a message board. Through five weeks of online discussions, students in both groups changed their perspectives of the target culture. Some students also gained better insights and understanding of their own culture. Even though the EFL students didn't participate as actively as the US students due to linguistic barriers, cultural barriers and a lack of strong motivation, being able to use English in a meaningful and communicative way allowed them to build more confidence in English writing. The findings confirm the usefulness of using message boards to facilitate culture learning and international collaboration. They also show the potential of incorporating cross-cultural online discussion activities in foreign language classrooms. 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