learners intercultural communicative competence
(I C C ), although the precise model of teaching ICC
Online Intercultural ExchangeAn Introduction for
Foreign Language Teachers
R. ODowd (ed.)
Multilingual Matters 2007, 312 pp., 24.95
isbn 978 1 84769 008 1
In the light of technological advance, many foreign
language educators have explored the potential of
integrating Internet technologies into foreign
language programmes with the purpose of developing
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varies even across the English-speaking world.
In Online Intercultural ExchangeAn Introduction for
Foreign Language Teachers, ODowd provides an
overview of intercultural activities related to Internet
communication technologies and brings together an
array of empirical designs presented by high-profile
professionals from Europe and North America. As the
title suggests, this publication is aimed at language
teachers who intend to explore this field with a clear
theoretical framework and hands-on examples,
following in the footsteps of colleagues who
undertook innovative task design in the context of
online intercultural exchange. Online intercultural
exchange can take several forms but in this book we
are concerned with telecollaboration, which refers to
the activity of engaging language learners in
interaction and collaborative project work with
partners from other cultures through the use of online
communication tools such as e-mail,
videoconferencing and discussion forums (p. 4).
In his two introductory chapters, ODowd starts with
the theoretical origins of online exchange for
language teaching purposes and outlines areas of
current research and debate. Drawing from a wide
range of literature, ODowd frames the key issues on
conducting online intercultural exchange, such as the
teachers role, working language(s), task design,
feedback, and the use of communication tools.
Concerning two learning scenarios (distance learning
and blended learning), ODowd further recommends
a social realist approach (p. 33) for the
understanding of these topics:
1 Is the younger generation of foreign language
learners more suited to online foreign language
education?
2 Does the facilitative role of online communication
technology increase language learners
participation in intercultural exchanges?
3 Does introducing online technologies into
language teaching represent a new way of foreign
language education?
This approach allows for the examination of both the
promises and challenges that Internet technologies
can bring to language teaching and learning.
Chapters 3, 4, and 5 demonstrate three typical models
of telecollaboration: eTandem (ORourke), Cultura
(Garcia and Crapotta), and eTwinning (Miguela),
which differ in terms of methodology. eTandem
evolves from conventional tandem learning (learners
reciprocal support in learning languages that are
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native to each) via the Internet, relying heavily on
learner autonomy. Cultura, a web-based project
originated in M IT led by Furstenberg and her
colleagues (see Furstenberg et al. 2001), adopts
a more structured comparative methodology to
engage students at university level in deeper
understanding of different cultural perspectives on
the individual basis rather than simply accumulating
cultural facts. eTwinning is essentially a project-
based learning endeavour promoted by the European
Union which aims to network schools to cooperate,
exchange information and share learning materials
(p. 86) in a foreign language.
The third part of this edited book focuses on recurrent
themes which have emerged from empirical research.
Ware and Canado (Chapter 6) attend to the language-
focused approach to telecollaboration. They insist
that language learners should not sacrifice linguistic
accuracy and complexity to fluency and intercultural
understanding. Belz (Chapter 7) affirms the
importance of linguistic development and
intercultural understanding in both product-oriented
and process-oriented intercultural telecollaboration
by demonstrating how to provide evidence on
learners development in ICC . Muller-Hartmann
(Chapter 8) stresses the teachers roles in designing
and managing telecollaborative projects in line with
the task-based approach. He examines the various
commitments the teacher should make in each phase
of a telecollaborative project and argues that teachers
should be professionals with I C C before they can help
learners to achieve the aim. Therefore, teacher
training for this purpose becomes of vital
importance. Torres and Vinagre (Chapter 9)
specialize in issues related to email exchanges for
young learners. While acknowledging the motivating
factor of using Internet technology by young learners,
they recommend using both task-based and content-
based learning approaches to designing different
types of activities at different stages. Dooly (Chapter
10) examines a range of communication tools for
telecollaboration and emphasizes that tasks should
be prepared in line with learners needs. Teachers, on
the other hand, should learn about the tools available
and their suitability for different tasks.
The last part of the book offers examples of
combining different tools for online exchanges in
diverse contexts. The projects reported are all
presented in the same format so that readers can
appreciate the differences and similarities between
each projects socioinstitutional context, objectives,
structure and outcomes to date (p. 237) and
the directions for further development. They
demonstrate how telecollaboration can be designed
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flexibly to involve a variety of different
communication tools in different educational
contexts, such as Vinagres (Chapter 12) email
tandem learning project, Hauck and Lewiss
(Chapter 13) Tridem project using Lyceum software,
Markeys (Chapter 15) Moodle project for online
course activities, and Chase and Alexanders
(Chapter 14) videoconferencing project between
Korea and Japan. Wildens (Chapter 16) AB C s online
project and Develotte, Mangenot, and Zourous
(Chapter 17) project both look at the importance of
enhancing teacher training whereas Lees (Chapter
18) desktop videoconferencing project aims to
improve learners oral skills. Despite the diversity,
they all base their projects on a task-based approach.
Among the various foci considered in the chapters,
Muller-Hartmanns (Chapter 8) discussion of the
teachers role in online intercultural exchange would
be of practical help and particular interest to would-be
follow-up teachers who are working in diverse
socioinstitutional contexts. Two important issues are
worth mentioning. First, while acknowledging the
advent of Internet technologies, especially the second
generation of communication tools (like wikis, blogs,
vlogs, Facebook, Second Life, etc. also known as
Web2.0 in general), Muller-Hartmann (p. 168)
emphasizes that it is not the technology-rich
condition but the innovation in the role of the teacher
that contributes to designing online intercultural
activities effectively. A useful approach to such
a design, recommended by Muller-Hartmann
(p. 1713), is a combined framework of Nunans
(2004) model of task-based language learning and
Willis (1996) sequencing model of task cycle.
Regarding technological concerns, although there is
no explicit mention of the Cultures-of-use of Internet
tools (see Thorne 2003) in this chapter, there is an
implication and warning to language teachers from
different cultures to be aware of the suitability of
adopting available tools online. Second, unlike
conventional physical settings, working in a context
extended to a virtual space is fundamentally
challenging, thus requiring teachers to reposition
themselves. However, as Muller-Hartmann
(p. 1689) cautions, a shift from a traditional sage-
on-the-stage role on the one side to a popular guide-
on-the-side facilitator on the other tends to minimize
the teachers position to a pedagogical role only,
without taking the local institutional constraints and
affordances into account. Instead, referring to Berge
(1995, in Muller-Hartmann, p. 169) and Legutke et al.
(2006, in Muller-Hartmann, p. 169), he argues that
the teachers role is not only pedagogical but also
social, managerial, and technical. It is this elaboration
that appropriately advises teachers venturing upon
this kind of enterprise to adopt a social realist
position, and highlights the need for enhancing
teacher education to embrace the complexities of
telecollaborative work.
Overall, this book contributes a wealth of innovative
ideas for engaging online communication tools for
language and culture learning, mainly from western
perspectives where the economy is developed and
technology is advanced. Perceptions and practices
from other fast developing countries or cultures are
not yet included. For example, in China, a recent
survey shows that although Internet-mediated
activities for I C C - oriented language programmes
have emerged, due to various practical reasons
teachers tend to use them to strengthen their
instructional role by using information tools while
underplaying the constructive benefits of using
communication tools (Wang 2008). Another
important problem to be raised relates to
assessment, which is of great concern to teachers
in East Asian countries, where test-oriented
mechanisms require the quantification of learning
outcomesa very problematic issue in the ICC
assessment debate (Byram 1997). To what degree will
process-oriented assessment like portfolios be
transferable and workable in these countries?
However, teachers and practitioners should bear in
mind that whether in teaching or assessing learners
ICC via online intercultural exchange, they have to
adapt the introduced designs to their own situations
as the examples are very context specific.
Furthermore, most of the projects seem to stick to
using native speakers (N S s) as interlocutors. This
narrows the scope for promoting the intercultural
approach, which should certainly cover the scenario
between two or more than two non-native speakers
(NN S s) of the target language used as lingua franca.
The only NNS NN S example (Chase and Alexander,
Chapter 14) in this book addresses a Korean
Japanese context, and more empirical reports would
be welcome to expand the scope of the research
spectrum. A case in point is an email pilot project
between university students from China and Finland
reported by Wang and Aaltonen (2004). The project
was designed to combine English language learning
and intercultural communication in the context of
international business negotiations. A more recent
report is a study about a project between Hong Kong
Chinese learners chatting online with Finnish
learners in the French language (Dervin 2008).
Within three weeks of online communication,
students were encouraged to complete an array of
tasks such as reading, speaking, and writing, centring
upon the development of interculturality between
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students. Other similar projects are developing,
though they remain marginal. For instance,
a Cultura-type collaboration between Chinese
students from a Taiwan University and students from
France and U S A communicating in the English
language (Meei-Ling Liaw, personal communication,
Spring 2008), and Japanese learners with Turkish
learners communicating in English with I C T
facilitation (Kumiko Aoki, personal communication, 3
June 2008). It will be interesting to see whether
learners perceive and behave differently when
carrying out online tasks and using online
communication (and or information) tools since
their cultural backgrounds and cultures of learning
are different to the western world. To what extent can
the models valid in western context also be applicable
in other environments with differing cultures of
learning, class sizes, and assessment values, etc.?
In spite of this limitation, there is plenty in this book
that is of great value to readers and I would
thoroughly recommend it to both new and
experienced western practitioners and as a stimulus
to language teachers in other cultures.
References
Byram, M. 1997. Teaching and Assessing Intercultural
Communicative Competence. Clevedon: Multilingual
Matters Ltd.
Dervin, F. 2008. China-Finland-France: Virtual
Mobility, French as a Lingua Franca and Interculturality.
http://users.utu.fi/freder/chinafinlandfrance-1.pdf
(Accessed on 04/07/2008).
Furstenberg, G., S. Levet, K. English, and K. Maillet.
2001. Giving a virtual voice to the silent language of
culture: The C U LT U R A project. Language Learning
and Technology 5/1: 55102. http://llt.msu.edu/
vol5num1/furstenberg/default.html (Accessed on
28/02/2008).
Thorne, S. L. 2003. Artefacts and cultures-of-use in
intercultural communication. Language Learning and
Technology 7/2: 3867. http://llt.msu.edu/vol7num2/
thorne/default.html (Accessed on 28/02/2008).
Wang, L. 2008. Internet-mediated intercultural
foreign language education: access and
opportunities within and beyond the classroom in
Chinas tertiary institutions. Unpublished
dissertation. Milton Keynes: The Open University.
Wang, M. and S. Aaltonen. 2004. Sino-Finnish e-mail
projectA teaching tool for tertiary business
communication course. Asian EFL Journal 6/3.
http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/
september_04_wm_sa.php (Accessed on 08/06/
2008).
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The reviewer
Liang Wang is currently a PhD student at the
Department of Languages, The Open University. His
research interest is Internet-mediated intercultural
foreign language teaching and learning. He obtained
a MA in Media Technology for T ES OL from
Newcastle University in 2003 and a MRes in
Education from the Open University in 2007. He had
two years of full-time teaching experience in a state-
owned university and various part-time English
language teaching and training experiences in China.
He is also doing part-time teaching of Chinese
language and culture to adult students in the UK.
Email: l.wang@open.ac.uk
doi:10.1093/elt/ccn065

84 Reviews