Using technology, reflection, and noticing to promote intercultural learning during short-term study abroad

Abstract

While intercultural learning is a key goal of study abroad, it is often difficult to assess or even achieve. Recent models, such as linguistic landscapes (which looks at the language of public signs, including road signs, advertising billboards, street, and place names), can help students reflect on and make sense of their intercultural experiences in more intentional ways. By working through tasks based on the four areas of social pedagogies, which serves as the framework for this study, students became more aware of their surroundings and documented their linguistic landscape visually and in digital form. They posted their findings to Padlet, a social media tool, which allowed students access to a collaborative and co-constructive participatory culture. Open coding was used to identify two themes that emerged from the data: (1) students became aware of their surroundings; and (2) students developed a sense of cultural awareness. We also comment on how students reflected on the project. Students noticed otherwise unobvious aspects of culture and used those observations to shape their own ideas about the target culture as they worked toward constructing an intellectual community through engagement with different perspectives. Finally, students gained skills in intercultural learning as they reevaluated both their own and the target cultures while considering new perspectives as well as historical and cultural contexts.

Keywords:

• Technology
• study abroad
• reflection
• intercultural
• linguistic landscape
• social pedagogies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Due to technological issues in France beyond their control, students were unable to complete the second step of the task in written form. They reflected on their observations orally but this session was not recorded. Therefore, this section includes only written data from the students in Germany.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lara Lomicka

Lara Lomicka (Ph.D. – Penn State) is Professor of French & Applied Linguistics at the University of South Carolina, where she serves as Faculty Principal of Preston Residential College. She was recently recognized by the French Government as a Chevalier dans l’ordre des palmes academiques. Her research interests include teacher education, intercultural learning, social media, microblogging, study abroad, service learning, and computer assisted language learning. In additional to variety of publications in reputable venues, she has co-edited two books on technology and language learning.

Lara Ducate

Lara Ducate (Ph.D. – University of Texas at Austin) is Professor of German and Applied Linguistics at the University of South Carolina. She recently co-edited a volume on computer-assisted language learning entitled Present and Future Promises of CALL: From Theory and Research to New Directions in Language Teaching. Her research interests include teacher education, intercultural learning, study abroad, service learning, integrative learning, and incorporating sustainability into the curriculum. Her publications appear in various journals, such as Foreign Language Annals, CALICO Journal, and Die Unterrichtspraxis.