Cross-cultural collaboration via message board for cultural understanding and language learning

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.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Teaching English as a Second Language

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2006

Author dc:creator

• Chen, Chiao-ling

Contributors dc:contributor

• Sadler, Randall
• Cziko, Gary

• 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

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright by Chiao-Ling Chen, 2006

Language dc:language

eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125871

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125871