Language learning and the raising of cultural awareness through Internet telephony: a case study

This article seeks to assess the impact of V-Pal (Virtual Partnerships for All Languages) on the student language learning experience within a conventional UK higher education (HE) curriculum. V-Pal is an innovative computer-mediated language scheme, based on a reciprocal, distance-learning language project, run by the University of Manchester in collaboration with the University of Cagliari, Italy. The scheme seeks to promote cultural awareness-raising and language acquisition via a series of linguistic and cultural virtual encounters. It aims to enhance cultural sensitivity among participants; to stimulate them to reflect on their own culture by contrasting it with the target culture in a process of cross-cultural awareness; and to increase confidence in the use of the target language, in particular spoken skills. The project proposes one way of addressing the ever-changing needs of students by offering them opportunities for enhancing conventionally-taught classes independently of their tutor, but within a tutor-‘managed’ environment. This article explores the different stages of the pilot project and draws some conclusions based on data collected from participants. The initial positive results and the replicable features of the project suggest that V-Pal could be successfully exported to other HE settings as a means of enhancing cultural and language provision within the restrictions of conventional curricula.

[1]  J. Belz.  Linguistic Perspectives on the Development of Intercultural Competence in Telecollaboration. , 2003 .

[2]  David Richard Moore,et al.  E-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning , 2006 .

[3]  S. Thorne,et al.  Internet-mediated intercultural foreign language education , 2006 .

[4]  Yueh‐Hung Tseng,et al.  A Lesson in Culture. , 2002 .

[5]  David Stevens,et al.  Developing Intercultural Competence in Practice , 2001 .

[6]  唐力忻.  Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning , 2010 .

[7]  Mike Levy.  CULTURE, CULTURE LEARNING AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES: TOWARDS A PEDAGOGICAL FRAMEWORK , 2007 .

[8]  Mike Calvert.  Tandem: a vehicle for language and intercultural learning , 1999 .

[9]  Carla Meskill,et al.  USING THE WORLD WIDE WEB TO INTEGRATE SPANISH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE: A PILOT STUDY , 1998 .

[10]  Bryan Smith.  COMPUTER-MEDIATED NEGOTIATED INTERACTION AND LEXICAL ACQUISITION , 2004, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[11]  Robert O'Dowd,et al.  Intercultural learning via videoconferencing: a pilot exchange project , 2000, ReCALL.

[12]  Andrea Ciccarelli,et al.  Teaching Culture Through Language: Suggestions for the Italian Language Class. , 1996 .

[13]  M. Byram,et al.  Intercultural experience and education , 2003 .

[14]  Susana M. Sotillo.  Discourse Functions and Syntactic Complexity in Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication , 2000 .

[15]  Cross-cultural learning through computer-mediated communication , 2001 .

[16]  Gráinne Conole,et al.  Contemporary perspectives in e-learning research: themes, methods and impact on practice , 2006 .

[17]  Hu Wei-fen.  On Learner Autonomy , 2002 .

[18]  Lutz Götze,et al.  Studying languages. A survey of British and European students , 1998 .

[19]  G. Hanley.  e‐Learning and the Science of Instruction , 2004 .

[20]  Andrea Dlaska,et al.  Integrating Culture and Language Learning in Institution-wide Language Programmes , 2000 .

[21]  Michael Byram,et al.  Teaching and Learning Language and Culture , 1994 .

[22]  Changlin Li,et al.  Integrated E-Learning , 2009, 2009 International Conference on E-Business and Information System Security.

[23]  J. Woodin.  12. Tandem Learning as an Intercultural Activity , 2001 .

[24]  K. Maillet,et al.  Giving a virtual Voice to the Silent Language of Culture , 2001 .

[25]  Andreas Müller-Hartmann,et al.  The Role of Tasks in Promoting Intercultural Learning in Electronic Learning Networks. , 2000 .

[26]  Andrea K. Knapp,et al.  Learning together. , 1955, Nursing outlook.

[27]  A W Tony Bates,et al.  Technology, e-learning, and distance education , 1995 .

[28]  M. Byram.  Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence , 1997 .

[29]  Dermot F. Murphy,et al.  Language learning tasks , 1987 .

[30]  Penny Ur,et al.  Learner Autonomy: A Guide to Developing Learner Responsibility , 2000 .

[31]  P. Benson,et al.  Autonomy and Independence in Language Learning , 1996 .

[32]  Kristi Jauregi,et al.  Virtual interaction through video-web communication: A step towards enriching and internationalizing language learning programs , 2008, ReCALL.

[33]  R. O’Dowd.  UNDERSTANDING THE "OTHER SIDE": INTERCULTURAL LEARNING IN A SPANISH-ENGLISH E-MAIL EXCHANGE , 2003 .

[34]  Bill Anderson.  Contemporary Perspectives in E-Learning Research , 2008 .

[35]  Claire J. Kramsch,et al.  Foreign language learning as global communicative practice , 2002 .

[36]  Jesús García Laborda,et al.  Blended Learning: Using Technology in and beyond the Language Classroom , 2008, J. Educ. Technol. Soc..

[37]  Claire Kramsch,et al.  Teaching Text and Context Through Multimedia , 1999 .

[38]  The integration of research-oriented learning into a Tandem learning programme , 2003 .

[39]  Julie A. Belz,et al.  Social Dimensions of Telecollaborative Foreign Language Study , 2002 .

[40]  E. Broady.  Sameness and difference: the challenge of culture in language teaching , 2004 .