Developing Intercultural Competence and Language Skills Through International Online Collaborative Learning

Raising the intercultural competence of learners has been one of the most important issues in language education in this global world, but how can we integrate intercultural education into our teaching? This chapter introduces two online exchange projects, one for the beginner level and one for the intermediate level, which were designed for Swedish learners of Japanese as a means to develop their intercultural competence through collaborative language learning. The projects were designed through collaboration between five universities in Europe and Asia. In this chapter, the authors explore how the intercultural competence of learners developed based on learners' reflections after each session and their answers in the questionnaire after the project. The study finds that the different language levels require teachers to take different approaches in designing the intercultural contents of the projects. The chapter ends with further discussions on how to design intercultural education in an online environment.

Short Video Production for Language Learning and Assessment

To better encourage students to use a language in a meaningful context, to further provide a new learning methodology and experience, and to innovate assessment, a Chinese video project was introduced to students at the Language Centre of the London School of Economics and Political Science. The project, iFilm, asked students to make a short video using as many of the vocabulary words and grammar points they learned in class as possible. Students were given about three months to come up with the video concepts, to film, and to edit. They could complete the project using any themes they wanted and work either individually or in a group. The project was assessed under three categories: writing, speaking, and video production. Many students found the video project interesting and agreed that it helped their Mandarin learning. However, the project also met several challenges. Some constructive suggestions are provided for future application.

Open Up the Classroom

Language instructors strive to provide students with a language learning environment that is authentic and contextualised. This chapter encourages teachers to step out of the textbook and integrate audio visual media in language courses. It highlights the pedagogical benefits of these resources and addresses the possible challenges language instructors may face. Bringing examples from two languages (French and Italian), the chapter aims at providing guidance to all language teachers in using film excerpts and video clips in their teaching. With a focus on lower levels (A.2 to B1), it showcases how these tools can be implemented, detailing the criteria to take into consideration in planning the lessons. Three detailed examples are provided with the objective of enabling effective learning. The last section of the chapter reflects on the use of audio visual media in language teaching and offers insights from the learners as well as the teachers' experiences.

Integration of Videoconferencing in ESP and EAP Courses

This chapter is devoted to the use of videoconferencing technology and other social media tools for creating a community of practice communication within which authentic tasks and activities in multicultural ESP and EAP classes can be carried out. It describes theoretical background for effective use of these media based on the results of INVITE project and other research in the area, it mentions the importance of international institutional cooperation and the chapter shares examples of good practice pointing at their advantages. Samples of end-of-course feedback reflecting students´ worries at the beginning of the course, their personal and professional achievements at the end of the course are included as well.

Exploring Intercultural Communication Through the Act of Translation in Subtitling

This chapter explores how intercultural teaching and learning can take place through the practical act of translation in subtitling. The method discussed in this chapter uses audio-visual media in the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) in higher education (HE). Translation in Subtitling is an undergraduate course offered to students with advanced Chinese competencies at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in the United Kingdom. This applied language practice develops advanced skills in intercultural communicative competence (ICC) to students working on projects related to specific professional and cultural contexts. The audio-visual-driven course and its workshop style aim to provide a practical and fun intercultural learning experience, as well as to enhance employability by preparing students to work in a Chinese linguistic environment.

Learning English With Texting on Social Media

Social media has induced substantial growth of various cultural contacts, resulting in a great variation of uses in English. In light of the popularity of new social media, contacts of people from different cultures have been changed from predominant face-to-face encounters to instantaneous communication. This case study examines how Taiwanese students relate their ESL learning experiences to the use of social media and how their uses help transform these ESL students' gender/ethnic identities during study abroad. Adopting an ethnographic research approach, the results suggest some barriers and challenges those ESL students face during the time abroad, both linguistically but also in terms of intercultural friendship. Pedagogical implications and recommendations are made on how to more effectively using social media in developing linguistic and intercultural competence in the context of study abroad.

Using News Reports in Language Education

The proliferation of news outlets with a digital presence in recent years has enabled language education to embrace current affairs in (and outside of) the classroom at a level which classic language-learning text books simply cannot rival. The inclusion of such material as a means of instruction allows language education to be as connected to the world in which students inhabit as possible. This chapter details how news reports, be they in video or textual form and obtained online, can be used in language education in a variety of ways. Clear instructions of how news reports have been successfully used in language classes, methodology and the exploration of learning results enables replication by other teachers, as do indications of how to adapt material to suit differing student profiles, classroom activities and language levels.

Use of Videos in Teaching and Learning

This chapter outlines the experiences of the authors when using video technologies in creating resources for teaching British Sign Language (BSL). The authors outline their own experiences of creating resources for teaching and how the increasing availability of video technology and video hosting websites has impacted on their teaching practice. The chapter outlines some practical stages in creating online video resources for the teaching of sign language, and also how to ensure that less computer literate students can engage with this new technology. The authors conclude with some suggestions about future research directions to measure the impact and effectiveness of such resources and technologies and call other teachers of sign languages to explore the potential of these approaches for themselves.

Life-Long Language Learning Strategies for a Brave New Digital World

The focus of this case study is to report and reflect on the design, implementation and fine tuning of the Peer Supported Online Language Learning Exchange module, known more simply as OLLE (Online Language Learning Exchange) which was developed in 2013 and is delivered in collaboration with students at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. This module seeks to give students in all three University Campuses (United Kingdom, China, and Malaysia) the opportunity to continue to learn a foreign language together, blending, where this is geographically possible, face to face learning opportunities with online learning. It strongly emphasizes language learning as a lifelong learning skill and seeks in particular to develop students' skills in learning to learn a language in digital realms and to develop a strong set of digital literacies for language learning.

Video Summaries of Academic Texts

This chapter introduces a case study on the use of video summaries in a university setting. It presents a practical insight into a simple, yet complex and versatile activity that aims at improving the language and communication skills of students in authentic intercultural academic situations. This activity has been developed, implemented and used in language courses at Masaryk University (MU), Brno, Czech Republic, and Universidad Nacional del Sur (UNS), Bahía Blanca, Argentina, since February 2014. Students undertaking language courses at MU and UNS write texts and record video summaries outside of class. They then reflect and discuss linguistic, cultural and organisational topics in class or online discussion forums. The activity consists of a set of interconnected tasks that improve students' understanding of similarities and differences between written and spoken styles, encourage their learning autonomy and enhance the authenticity of their language development.