Raising critical cultural awareness through telecollaboration: insights for pre-service teacher education


EREN Ö.

Computer Assisted Language Learning, vol.36, no.3, pp.288-311, 2023 (AHCI) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 36 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2023
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/09588221.2021.1916538
  • Journal Name: Computer Assisted Language Learning
  • Journal Indexes: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Applied Science & Technology Source, Computer & Applied Sciences, EBSCO Education Source, Education Abstracts, Educational research abstracts (ERA), ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), INSPEC, Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo, DIALNET
  • Page Numbers: pp.288-311
  • Keywords: Computer-assisted language learning, critical cultural awareness, intercultural competence, teacher training, telecollaboration
  • Hatay Mustafa Kemal University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Increase in diversified teaching contexts has led researchers to investigate the potentials of telecollaboration in multicultural learning environments. While there are abundant telecollaboration studies, improving intercultural awareness through a theoretical model is usually under-investigated. Based on Byram’s (1997) co-orientational and Bennett’s (1993) developmental intercultural competence models, this study intends to raise critical intercultural competence among 50 pre-service English teachers through telecollaboration with five faculty members across European countries. Relying on data generated through (a)synchronous delivery modes in an eight-week intervention, participants’ intercultural development was measured by quantitative and qualitative methods. The findings suggest that telecollaboration had a significant impact on learners’ critical intercultural development. In particular, interaction with different cultural perspectives dismantled prejudices and stereotypes as evidenced by their 1) cognisance of diversity, 2) pragmatic cultural stance, 3) latent intercultural conflict and 4) oppressed gender inequality. This study reveals that telecollaboration is a viable venue for increasing pre-service teachers’ critical cultural awareness and reducing biases in multicultural learning contexts.