Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Language, Education and Technology pp 219–231Cite as

Critical Approaches to Online Intercultural Language Education

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Language and Education ((ELE))

Abstract

This chapter explores critical approaches to online intercultural language education, also referred to as telecollaboration or online intercultural exchange. The origins of online intercultural language education lie in a critical view of the traditional language classroom. As the practice has evolved, several researchers have adopted a critical approach, questioning the many assumptions that have become ingrained in foreign and online intercultural language education. Major contributors have challenged notions such as intercultural learning being a natural outcome of online contact or the concept of a static, monolithic, national standard language as the target of language learners, whose ideal interlocutors are “native” speakers of this language and experts of its equally static culture. They have also unpacked conceptualizations of sociocultural competence and communicative language teaching as well as the notion that technology is merely a tool through which learners communicate. Recent work has looked, for example, at lingua franca exchanges, which challenge the power dynamics of traditional exchanges and offer a wider range of identities than the nonstandard, deficient communicator that the native speaker target implies. The ecologies of online intercultural language education and the mediating and shaping role of technology and its relations with society have also garnered interest recently. Problems and difficulties in the adoption of critical approaches include the reluctance of teachers to take a political stance and the need to constantly question one’s practice. The chapter concludes with reflections on preferred futures for online intercultural language education.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   449.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Akbari, R. (2008). Postmethod discourse and practice. TESOL Quarterly, 42(4), 641–652.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belz, J. A. (2002). Social dimensions of telecollaborative foreign language study. Language Learning & Technology, 6(1), 60–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Block, D. (2002). ‘McCommunication’: A problem in the frame for SLA. In D. Block & D. Cameron (Eds.), Globalization and language teaching (pp. 117–133). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brammerts, H. (1996). Language learning in tandem using the Internet. In M. Warschauer (Ed.), Telecollaboration in foreign language learning (pp. 121–130). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummins, J., & Sayers, D. (1995). Brave new schools: Challenging cultural illteratcies through global learning networks. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, A. (2003). The native speakers: Myth and reality. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furstenberg, G., Levet, S., English, K., & Maillet, K. (2001). Giving a voice to the silent culture of language: The CULTURA project. Language Learning & Technology, 5(1), 55–102. Retrieved from http://llt.msu.edu/vol5num1/furstenberg/default.pdf. Accessed 10 September 2016

  • Guth, S., Helm, F., & O’Dowd, R. (2012). University language classes collaborating online. A report on the integration of telecollaborative networks in European universities. Retrieved from http://intent-project.eu/sites/default/files/Telecollaboration_report_Final_Oct2012.pdf

  • Helm, F. (2015). The practices and challenges of telecollaboration in higher education in Europe. Language Learning & Technology, 19(2), 197–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Helm, F., & Guth, S. (2010). The multifarious goals of telecollaboration 2.0: Theoretical and practical implications. In S. Guth & F. Helm (Eds.), Telecollaboration 2.0: Languages, literacies and intercultural learning in the 21st century (pp. 69–106). Bern: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kern, R., & Warschauer, M. (2000). Introduction: Theory and practice of networkbased language teaching. In M. Warschauer & R. Kern (Eds.), Network-based language teaching: Concepts and practice (pp. 1–19). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinginger, C., & Belz, J. (2005). Sociocultural perspectives on pragmatic development in foreign language learning: Case studies from telecollaboration and study abroad. Intercultural Pragmatics, 2(4), 369–421.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramsch, C. (2014). Teaching foreign languages in an era of globalization: Introduction. The Modern Language Journal, 98(1), 296–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kramsch, C., & Thorne, S. (2002). Foreign language learning as global communicative practice. In D. Block & D. Cameron (Eds.), Globalization and language teaching (pp. 83–100). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramsch, C. (2001). Intercultural communication. In R. Carter & D. Nunan (Eds.), The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (pp. 201–206). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramsch, C. (2000). Second language acquisition, applied linguistics, and the teaching of foreign languages. The Modern Language Journal 84(3), 311–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lamy, M., & Goodfellow, R. (2010). Telecollaboration and learning 2.0. In S. Guth & F. Helm (Eds.), Telecollaboration 2.0: Languages, literacies and intercultural learning in the 21st century (pp. 107–138). Bern: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lankshear, M., & Knobel, M. (2006). New literacies: Everyday practices and classroom learning. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lantolf, J. P. (Ed.). (2000). Sociocultural theory and second language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, T., Chanier, T., & Youngs, B. (2011). Special issue commentary: Multilateral online exchanges for language and culture learning. Language Learning & Technology, 15(1), 3–9. Retrieved from http://llt.msu.edu/issues/february2011/commentary.pdf. Accessed 10 September 2016

  • Malinowski, D., & Kramsch, C. (2014). The ambiguous world of heteroglossic computer-mediated language learning. In A. Blackledge & A. Creese (Eds.), Heteroglossia as practice and pedagogy (pp. 155–179). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Messina Dahlberg, G., & Bagga-Gupta, S. (2015). Learning on-the-go in institutional telecollaboration: Anthropological perspectives on the boundaries of digital spaces. In E. Dixon & M. Thomas (Eds.), Researching language learner interactions online: From social media to MOOCs, CALICO monograph series (Vol. 13, pp. 259–282). Texas: CALICO. Retrieved from http://calico.org/LearnerInteractionsOnline.pdf. Accessed 10 September 2016

  • Norton, B., & Toohey, K. (Eds.). (2004). Critical pedagogies and language learning. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norton, B., & Toohey, K. (2011). Identity, language learning, and social change. Language Teaching, 44(4), 412–446.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Dowd, R. (2011). Online foreign language interaction: Moving from the periphery to the core of foreign language education? Language Teaching, 44(3), 368–380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Dowd, R., & Ritter, M. (2006). Understanding and working with ‘failed communication’ in telecollaborative exchanges. CALICO Journal, 61(2), 623–642.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortega, L., & Zyzik, E. (2008). Online interactions and L2 learning: Some ethical challenges for L2 researchers. In S. Magnan (Ed.), Mediating discourse online (pp. 331–355). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Pennycook, A. (2001). Critical applied linguistics: A critical introduction. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc..

    Google Scholar 

  • Philippson, R. (2015). English as threat or opportunity in European higher education. In S. Dimova, A. K. Hultgren, & C. Jensen (Eds.), English-medium instruction in higher education in Europe (pp. 19–42). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phipps, A., & Levine, G. S. (2010). What is language pedagogy for? In G. Levine & A. Phipps (Eds.), Critical and intercultural theory and language pedagogy (pp. 1–14). Boston: Cengage Learning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rampton, M. B. H. (1990). Displacing the ‘native speaker’: Expertise, affiliation and inheritance. ELT Journal, 44(2), 97–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riel, M. (1993). Global education through learning circles. In L. M. Harasim (Ed.), Global networks: Computers and international communication (pp. 221–236). Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Savignon, S. J., & Sysoyev, P. V. (2002). Socio-cultural strategies for a dialogue of cultures. The Modern Language Journal, 86(4), 508–524.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, J., & von der Emde, S. (2006). Conflicts in cyberspace: From communication breakdown to intercultural dialogue in online collaborations. In J. A. Belz & S. L. Thorne (Eds.), Internet-mediated intercultural foreign language education (pp. 178–206). Boston: Thomson Heinle.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schnwienhorst, K. (2003). Neither here nor there? In D. Palfreyman & R. C. Smith (Eds.), Learner autonomy across cultures. Language education perspectives. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Starfield, S. (2004). “Why does this feel empowering?”: Thesis writing, concordancing, and the corporatizing university. In B. Norton & K. Toohey (Eds.), Critical pedagogies and language learning (pp. 138–157). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Thorne, S. L. (2003). Artifacts and cultures-of-use in intercultural communication. Language Learning & Technology, 7(2), 38–67. Retrieved from http://llt.msu.edu/vol7num2/pdf/thorne.pdf. Accessed 10 September 2016

  • Thorne, S. L. (2006). Pedagogical and proxiological lessons from internet-mediated intercultural foreign language education research. In J. A. Belz & S. L. Thorne (Eds.), Internet-mediated intercultural foreign language education (pp. 2–30). Boston: Thomson Heinle.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorne, S. L. (2016). Cultures-of-use and morphologies of communicative action. Language Learning & Technology, 20(2), 185–191. Retrieved from http://llt.msu.edu/issues/june 2016/thorne.pdf. Accessed 10 September 2016

  • Thorne, S. L., Sauro, S., & Smith, B. (2015). Technologies, identities, and expressive activity. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 35, 215–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Train, R. (2006). A critical look at technologies and ideologies in internet-mediated intercultural foreign language education. In J. A. Belz & S. L. Thorne (Eds.), Internet-mediated intercultural foreign language education (pp. 247–284). Boston: Thomson Heinle.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ware, P. D. (2005). “Missed” communication in online communication: Tensions in a German-American telecollaboration. Language Learning & Technology, 9(2), 64–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ware, P. D., & Kramsch, C. (2005). Toward an intercultural stance: Teaching German and English through telecollaboration. Modern Language Journal, 89(2), 190–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warschauer, M. (1996). Telecollaboration in foreign language learning. Honolulu: Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warschauer, M. (1999). Electronic literacies: Language, culture, and power in online education. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Padova, Padova, Italy

    Francesca Helm

Authors
  1. Francesca Helm
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesca Helm .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Portland, Oregon, USA

    Steven L. Thorne

  2. Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Stephen May

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this entry

Cite this entry

Helm, F. (2017). Critical Approaches to Online Intercultural Language Education. In: Thorne, S., May, S. (eds) Language, Education and Technology. Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02237-6_18

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation