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Using telecollaboration to promote intercultural competence in teacher training classrooms in Turkey and the USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2020

Babürhan Üzüm Open the ORCID record for Babürhan Üzüm [Opens in a new window] ,
Sedat Akayoglu Open the ORCID record for Sedat Akayoglu [Opens in a new window]  and
Bedrettin Yazan Open the ORCID record for Bedrettin Yazan [Opens in a new window]
Babürhan Üzüm
Affiliation:
Sam Houston State University, USA ([email protected])
Sedat Akayoglu
Affiliation:
Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University, Turkey ([email protected])
Bedrettin Yazan
Affiliation:
The University of Alabama, USA ([email protected])
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Abstract

Since advances in computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools have made virtual exchanges readily available in educational practices, telecollaboration has been gaining traction as a means to provide practical experiences and cultural exposure to language learners and, more recently, teacher trainees. Drawing upon Byram’s (1997) model of intercultural communicative competence (ICC), this study examines 48 teacher trainees’ interculturality through a telecollaborative project between two teacher training classes from Turkey and the USA. This study relies on data generated by the participants throughout this telecollaborative project: weekly online discussion board posts within groups of six and post-project reflections. Although developing ICC is an arduous and prolonged task, the data analysis suggested that the participants’ experiences in this telecollaboration contributed to their emergent ICC through discussions on the topics of multicultural education and interactions with trainees from another educational context. Their intercultural learning is evidenced by their (1) awareness of heterogeneity in their own and interactants’ culture, (2) nascent critical cultural awareness, and (3) curiosity and willingness to learn more about the other culture. Thus, this study implies that telecollaboration offers an effective teacher training venue that affords teacher trainees with first-hand intercultural encounters to engage with otherness and prepare for their ethnolinguistically diverse classrooms.

Keywords

telecollaborationteacher trainingintercultural communicative competencecritical cultural awareness
Type
Regular papers
Information
ReCALL , Volume 32 , Issue 2 , May 2020 , pp. 162 - 177
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Copyright
© European Association for Computer Assisted Language Learning 2020

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