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Language Learning in Higher Education

Journal of the European Confederation of Language Centres in Higher Education (CercleS)

Editor-in-Chief: Szczuka-Dorna, Liliana / O’Rourke, Breffni

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2191-6128
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Intercultural competence in synchronous communication between native and non-native speakers of Spanish

Susana S. Fernández / María Isabel Pozzo
Published Online: 2017-05-09 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2017-0003

Abstract

This paper discusses to what extent synchronous communication via Skype by Argentine university students of History and Danish university students of Spanish contributed to fostering intercultural competence in the two groups of participants. Intercultural gains are considered both as part of the planned tasks to be solved by the participants (intentional learning) and in the spontaneous communication that arose in the course of the Skype conversations (incidental learning). The overall objective of this telecollaboration project has been the promotion of intercultural competence, with particular focus on the learning and teaching of Argentine regional history. Several tools, synchronous and asynchronous, were used for this purpose. The focus of the present paper will be the analysis of instances of intercultural awareness observed in Skype conversations, and of the affordances and obstacles that this modality of communication seems to pose for the native and non-native participants.

Keywords: intercultural competence; computer mediated communication; synchronous communication; telecollaboration; native/non-native communication

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About the article

Susana S. Fernández

Susana S. Fernández is associate professor and study coordinator at the Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies at Aarhus University, Denmark. She conducts research in the field of foreign language acquisition and pedagogy.

María Isabel Pozzo

María Isabel Pozzo is a researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina, and Associate Professor at National University of Rosario, where she is the head of the Center of Studies on Spanish as a Foreign Language.


Published Online: 2017-05-09

Published in Print: 2017-05-24


Citation Information: Language Learning in Higher Education, Volume 7, Issue 1, Pages 109–135, ISSN (Online) 2191-6128, ISSN (Print) 2191-611X, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2017-0003.

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