Understanding the "Other Side": Intercultural learning in a Spanish-English e-mail exchange

By Robert O'Dowd. Language Learning & Technology, 2003

411 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Intercultural learning is often assumed to be an automatic benefit of e-mail exchanges between groups of learners in different countries, but little research exists on whether on-line intercultural collaboration does actually develop learners' understanding of the other culture's perspective and world view. This paper reviews what recent literature suggests intercultural learning to involve and then reports on a year-long e-mail exchange between Spanish and English second year university language learners. Using the results of qualitative research, the paper identifies key characteristics of e-mail exchanges which helped to develop learners' intercultural communicative competence (Byram, 1997). It also outlines elements of e-mail messages which may enable students to develop successful intercultural relationships with their partners.

Subfields: Communication, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Language and Linguistics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/09e179dc9d64a3fe2311898b1f1ccc7d57ccde5f

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Citations in the corpus

Feedback on second language students' writing (2006, background): “More widely, these kinds of interaction not only offer feedback on writing but also on L2 development and intercultural communication skills themselves (e.g. Liu et al. 2002; O’Dowd 2003).”
Learning Language, Learning Culture: Teaching Language to the Whole Student (2020, background): “Speakers must be aware of their own and others’ cultures, and they must have the linguistic and pragmatic skills necessary to navigate another culture (Guilherme, 2000; O’Dowd, 2003).”
Second Language Use, Socialization, and Learning in Internet Interest Communities and Online Gaming (2009, neutral): “The use of synchronous chat in VEs makes relevant the extensive history of research on CMC (Danet & Herring, 2007; Herring, 1996; Nardi, 2003; Walther, 2007) and CMC in language education (Blyth, 2008; Chun, 2008; Kern, 2006; Magnan, 2008; O’Dowd, 2003; Ortega, 1997; Thorne, 2006, 2008a, 2008b).”
Intercultural communicative competence and online exchanges: a systematic review (2018, background): “Recently, the study of intercultural competence in such environments has been a major focus of attention (Belz, 2003; Belz & Thorne, 2006; Liaw, 2006; M€uller-Hartmann, 2000; O'Dowd, 2003, 2006, 2007; Ware & Kramsch, 2005).”
E-learning and the development of intercultural competence (2006, background): “…competences: (A) interest in knowing other people’s way of life and introducing one’s own culture to others, (B) ability to change perspective, (C) knowledge about one’s own and others’ culture for intercultural communication, and (D) knowledge about intercultural communication processes.”
The competences of the telecollaborative teacher (2015, background): “Some exchanges, for example, have reflected a strong emphasis on intercultural learning (O’Dowd 2003; Ware 2005), while others have been located firmly in interactionist approaches to language learning and have focused on tasks which aim to maximise episodes of corrective feedback and the…”
Understanding and Working with 'Failed Communication' in Telecollaborative Exchanges (2013, background): “In her study, Ware (2005) looked at these two related factors in more detail.”
Perspectives on Technology in Learning and Teaching Languages (2006, background): “…indicate that intercultural contact in and of itself does not naturally lead to cultural understanding (Belz, 2002, 2003; Coleman, 1998; Fischer, 1998; O’Dowd, 2003; Ware, 2003, 2005), and some have questioned whether online contact can reduce stereotypes and prejudice (Ware & Kramsch, 2005).”