Understanding telecollaboration through an analysis of intercultural discourse

Abstract

This study examines if and how collaboration and intercultural learning took place during telecollaboration by exploring the linguistic features of the discourse used by the participants, as well as the patterns and types of interactions between intercultural interlocutors. EFL students in Taiwan were paired up with pre-service teacher education students in the US for the project. The data collected included online forum entries written by participants from both sides after they read two articles and the end-of-project reports written by the Taiwanese participants. The findings of this study add to the small but increasing body of literature about online learning and collaborative behaviors. In particular, the linguistic-grounded examination of intercultural discourse adopted by this study echoes a previous assertion that such an approach could provide insights into the complex and multi-layered social interactions in telecollaboration. The new and unexpected findings about intercultural learning between Asian and US university students deserve further study.