INTERCULTURAL LEARNING THROUGH BLOG EXCHANGES IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES Nguyen Thi Hong Nhat

Contents The Role of Culture in Language Learning and Teaching 1 Teachers’ Difficulties in Teaching Culture 2 A case study 3

The Role of Culture in Language Teaching and Learning “The need for cultural literacy in ELT arises mainly from the fact that, most language learners, not exposed to culture elements of the society in question, seem to encounter significant hardship in communicating meaning to native speaker.” (Bada, 2000) “The need for cultural literacy in ELT arises mainly from the fact that, most language learners, not exposed to culture elements of the society in question, seem to encounter significant hardship in communicating meaning to native speaker.” (Bada, 2000)

The Role of Culture in Language Teaching and Learning Dictates who talks to whom, what/ how the communication proceeds Determine how people encode messages Culture - Communication:Inseparable (Samovar, Porter, & Jain, 1981)

The Role of Culture in Language Teaching and Learning Effects of the culture class Item No.ItemResponses%Chi-Square 1Did this course contribute to any of your language skills? Yes No0 Item No.ItemResponsesFrequency%Chi- Square 2To which skill did the course contribute most? Reading Writing25.3 Listening Speaking ( Bilal Genc & Erdogan Bada, 2005)

Contents The Role of Culture in Language Learning and Teaching 1 Teachers’ Difficulties in Teaching Culture 2 A Case Study 3

Teachers’ Difficulties in Teaching Culture 1 Overcrowded Curriculum 2 Fear of Not Knowing Enough 3 Lack of Adequate Training 4 How to Measure Cross-Cultural Awareness

 Definition: Blog is “an online journal that an individual can continuously update with his or her own words, ideas, and thoughts. ” (Campbell, p.1)  Blogs have potentials to be a valuable tool because of:  easy-to-use accessibility (Campbell, 2003)  space for learners’ voice, awareness of audience (Leverett, 2006; Ward, 2004)  high learners’ autonomy (Hanson-Smith & Egbert, 1999)  effective teacher–student communication and peer interaction (Arslan & Sahin-Kizil, 2010; Dippold, 2009) 2. Blogs as a tool for language learning and teaching

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Design of the study 3.1 Data collection and data analysis 3.2 Data collection and data analysis 3.2

Research questions Q1: How are Vietnamese students’ intercultural competence improved through blog exchanges? Q2: What characteristics of blog exchanges lead to intercultural learning? Q3: What elements are important to the success of blog intercultural exchanges?

Research design Week 1 – Briefing Week 2-11 Blog exchanging Week 12 – Writing reflection essays Participants: 40 intermediate-level EFL students in a cultural class and 10 Fulbright American teaching fellows. American peopleAmerican history Public holidayCustom and tradition

Instruments and data analysis Writing tasks (12) Teacher marking sheets (6) RESEARCH QUESTIONS Learning diaries (4) Writing tasks (12) Interviews Reflection essays 1 Writing tasks (12) Pre- Questionnaires Post- questionnair s 23

Results: Vietnamese students’ intercultural competence improvement through blog exchanges

Characteristics of blogging availability of Internet facilities a non-threatening learning environment flexible schedule for giving comments an user-friendly environment BLOGGING

Elements enable students to establish successful intercultural relationships with their partners via blogging Interesting task designs Students’ and teachers’ commitment Successful intercultural relationships

Teaching Culture: Strategies and Techniques Posters, pictures, maps, signs, and realia Posters, pictures, maps, signs, and realia Assigning students foreign names Assigning students foreign names Building and maintaining Authentic social cultural network Building and maintaining Authentic social cultural network CULTURE ISLAND: MAKE STUDENTS BE WET IN THE WATER OF CULTURE CULTURE ISLAND: MAKE STUDENTS BE WET IN THE WATER OF CULTURE

Teachers’ Difficulties in Teaching Culture: Suggested Solutions Teachers’ role is not to impart facts but to help students attain the skills that are necessary to make sense out of the facts Teach culture, grammar, vocabulary in an integrative fashion, not serial one. Curriculum Fear Of Not Knowing Enough Lack Of Adequate Training Measurement Create a framework with a list of activities such as writing reflection, writing diary, presentation Ever - learning

Bibliography Huges, G. M. (1984). An Argument for Cultural Analysis in the Second Language Finnocchario M. (1964), English as a second language: From theory to practice. New York: Simon and Schuster Lafayette, R.C. (1978), Teaching Culture: Strategies and Techniques, Virginia: Arlington. Bada, E. (2000) Culture in ELT, Chukurova University Journal of Social Sciences (6), Henrichsen, L. E Understanding Culture and Helping Students Understand Culture. (Web document)