Knowledge in Telecollaboration Intercultural Communication Research - Essay Example

Table of Contents Table of Contents Contribution of the Study to new Knowledge in Telecollaborative Intercultural Communication Research This research study will seek to enrich knowledge about the use of tele-collaboration promote intercultural communication and learning among EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia The research project should enrich theory into how EFL teachers can improve their intercultural competence as well as ICT competence This research study will contribute significant knowledge about the role of the instructor for tele-collaborative intercultural research. Furthermore, it will also enable future researchers to enhance the methodological basis for this approach that combines the main principles of design based research with some elements of ethnography. This research study will contribute to understanding the use of tele-collaboration in improving intercultural communication in several ways. With EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia coming from English speaking countries like the US, Australia, Canada, and South Africa, there may be ineffective intercultural communication between these EFL teachers and Saudi students. From the literature reviewed as part of this study, there seems to be a general agreement on the usefulness of ICT and telecollaboration in particular to improve intercultural communication and subsequent learning in EFL teaching. For example, Chapelle (2005) contends that technology is central to second language teaching, while Sinicrope et al 2007) note the importance of increasing inter-cultural collaboration between individuals who are culturally and linguistically different using ICT. Moreover, Alrumaih (2004) argues that ICT advances aid EFL teachers to innovate the way they teach L2 to students in the virtual and physical classrooms. This research study will seek to enrich knowledge about the use of tele-collaboration promote intercultural communication and learning among EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia. O’Dowd (2013), for example, mentions that tele-collaboration enables virtual intercultural interaction and exchange between geographically-dispersed language learners in collaborative projects and tasks. Moreover, Ware and Cañado (2007) also state that tele-collaboration is essential in promoting conversational fluency and negotiation of meaning. By applying online collaboration to enable EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia to collaborate on project work and collaborative tasks, the research project should enrich theory into how EFL teachers can improve their intercultural competence as well as ICT competence. The UNESCO ICT competency framework for teachers, for example, outlines the proficiencies and skills needed for teachers to integrate ICT into teaching practice and the study will seek to enhance this framework. In addition, this study will also seek to enhance knowledge on the Salmon (2004) five stage model that seeks to help guide EFL teachers enhance learner experience and knowledge construction using ICT. Moreover, this research study will contribute significant knowledge about the role of the instructor for tele-collaborative intercultural research. Joly and Iseli-Chan (2010) identifies the need for additional research into tele-collaborative partnerships by EFL teachers. By producing co-authored instructions in teacher-teacher dialogue format, this study will be especially helpful in understanding configurations of intercultural learning from the participating teachers’ perspective. Moreover, this study may be specifically useful as an experiential model for language teachers in the pre-service stage. Kolb (2004) notes that educational technology can help pre-service teachers to experience language learning and teaching, to gain opportunities to reflect on learning experiences, to build professional development skills, and to discover their preferences and styles from different points of view as prospective teachers and learners. Probably the most important aspect of telecollaborative discourse among the EFL teachers is that it will provide opportunities for the researcher to examine the development of specific phenomena of intercultural competencies longitudinally in the interactions between the teachers over time. As such, this research study will seek to expand knowledge about the intercultural phenomena, in this case regarding how EFL teachers without any significant attachment to their own culture or effective adaptation to the Saudi Arabia culture can establish a “third place”, in which the gap between the 1st and 2nd culture can be bridged. . A major strength of this study in contributing to new knowledge is its situation of the discourse within the wider framework of research, providing a comprehensive picture of how discourse and developments in intercultural EFL teaching in one hand and the use of the telecollaborative technology in language teaching in the other hand intersect. Such discussion of the two related pedagogical branches will contextualize current trends in more useful manner. Whereas most trends in research into technology-mediated second language learning has mainly focused on how taking part in tele-collaborative participation can facilitate the development of linguistic or inter-cultural competence for the L2 learner, this study will look into how such collaboration can facilitate development of critical media literacy and intercultural communicative competency in the EFL teacher. Furthermore, it will also enable future researchers to enhance the methodological basis for this approach that combines the main principles of design based research with some elements of ethnography. Design-based research used in this study will bring together two essential aspects so as to guide EFL teachers to better refinement of education, which are an assessment of critical elements of design and a design focus (Dede, 2005). Ethnography will provide qualitative methods that allow for careful assessment of how design operates in practice, as well as how cognitive variables interact with contextual and social variables. On the other hand, the design study will provide quantitative methods that allow for the evaluation of independent variable effects on the dependent variables (Dede, 2005). In this study, the design experiment will be contextualized in an educational setting, although, this time, the focus will be on making generalizations from the educational setting to guide the process of design. As such, this study will contribute to the different methodologies required to improve practice in education. Clarification of the study design, DBR A good definition of design-based research is presented by Wang and Hannafin (2005) who stated that it is flexible, though systematic, methodology that seeks to improve practice in education by iterative design, analysis, development and implementation in the basis of researcher-practitioner collaboration in real settings. In turn, DBR leads to design theories and principles that are sensitive to the context. Design based research is identified as being pragmatic since its objectives involve solving contemporary problems in real world settings through the design and implementation of interventions, along with refining principles of design and extending learning and design theories. By using design-based research, this study will produce both practical educational interventions and theories as its outcomes. Edelson (2002) points out in his study that theories about outcomes and context can be generated by design research, in this case describing learning situations that involve EFL teachers and their interaction with the learning environment. Moreover, design methodology in this study will be of a prescriptive nature , which will serve as a guideline to implement designs, as well as the kind of expertise needed to implement the designs and those who are best placed to provide this expertise. In using this design process, the researcher will also be able to refine the interventions in order for them to be more applicable to the teaching practice. These interventions could vary from curricula and learning activities, to concrete artifacts such as tools. As a result, the interventions that the study will come up with will be more applicable and usable since they are developed on the basis of theories that are revised and elaborated during the process of design. The research study will recruit 15 participants selected from a larger pool of 250 volunteer EFL teachers working in Saudi Arabia. These participants will be involved in weekly online sessions that will last two hours for each session, while the participants will also be required to spend at least three to six hours per week to complete study tasks and for self-study. Since this study will be conducted online, data will be collected about the amount of time that the participants spend on the provided tasks, which will provide information about the amount of time spent by each participant on a specific task. In order to ensure that the participants complete the study and do not fall out, they will be awarded with a certificate once the course has been completed and this will be signed by the Dean at the English Language Center at Taif University. Moreover, the fact that EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia are struggling during intercultural communication with their students, this will be used to convince the participants that they really need to complete this course. Measurement of progress over time / Measuring Intercultural Competence Development Over time, this study will develop intercultural and ICT competency development in in-service EFL teachers working in Saudi Arabia. To measure the progress of the EFL teachers over time, the researcher will review the progress and status of each teacher over time to determine the support they need. EFL teachers’ progress will be assessed using several measures. Some of these measures will include the teachers’ knowledge of features and functionalities of the telecollaborative tools, and their ease of communication with each other. Progress will also be measured based on their ability to identify differences and similarities between the two cultures, the extent of active participation in the collaborative process, attempts to adapt different perspectives from the Saudi culture and improvements in learning design and ability for critical reflection. All these measures will help to understand the improving intercultural competence of the teachers. What will be measured in this case is development of intercultural competence by meeting the outcomes provided above. The level of development in intercultural competencies from the start of the study in terms of outcomes will be measured using self-assessments, for example self-reports, which will measure the outcomes of intercultural competencies development outcomes. This will give the facilitator an enhanced sense of the EFL teachers’ current weaknesses and strengths in relation to theintercultural communication competence, aiding in the further design of the study to improve the EFL teachers’ competencies. The major outcomes that will be measured using the embedded self-assessment tasks include self-recording videos, collaborative planning designs and reflective journals. Updated Table–Phases ofdesign-basedresearch(Herringtonetal., 2007) PHASE 3:Iterative cycles of testing and refinement of solutions in practice Implementation of intervention Semester (1) 2015 Semester (2) 2015 Participants Data collection Data analysis Design principles Designed artifact(s) Professional development PHASE 4: Reflection to produce “design principles” and enhance solution implementation Semester (2) 2015 Semester (1) 2016 Table 2 – Research Timeline adapted from (Herrington et al., 2007) YearMonth 2015 2016 January Literature review Dissertation writing February Applying for Ethics clearance Completing final draft March Preparing training materials April Analyzingfindings Data collection Final Submission May Data collection June Data collection July Analyzing findings August Analyzing findings September Analyzing findings October Literature review Synthesize findings, revisit literature November Start Reflecting to produce “design principles” and enhance solution implementation December References Dede, C. (January 01, 2005). Commentary: The Growing Utilization of Design-Based Research. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 5, 3, 123-145 Edelson, D. C. (2002). Design Research: What we learn when we engage in design. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 11(1), 105-121. Joly, C., &Iseli-Chan, N. (2010). Impact of E-Adoption on Teaching and Learning in the Context of Teaching French.International Journal of E-Adoption, 2, 3, 26-38. Kolb, D. A. (2004). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Read More