2026-09-22T15:01:16Z https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125871 2025-02-13 col_2142_13736 col_2142_5131 com_2142_8975 com_2142_8903 com_2142_5130

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125871 Dissertation/Thesis Cross-cultural collaboration via message board for cultural understanding and language learning Chen, Chiao-ling 2006 Sadler, Randall Cziko, Gary Teaching English as Second Language Cross-cultural Collaboration EFL Students Taiwan US College Students Message Board Online Discussions Cultural Perspectives Linguistic Barriers Cultural Barriers Motivation Confidence in English Writing Culture Learning International Collaboration Online Discussion Activities Language Classrooms Interactive Activities Student Participation eng This study describes a cross-cultural collaboration between English as a Foreign Language (EFL) college students in Taiwan and college students in the US via a message board. Through five weeks of online discussions, students in both groups changed their perspectives of the target culture. Some students also gained better insights and understanding of their own culture. Even though the EFL students didn't participate as actively as the US students due to linguistic barriers, cultural barriers and a lack of strong motivation, being able to use English in a meaningful and communicative way allowed them to build more confidence in English writing. The findings confirm the usefulness of using message boards to facilitate culture learning and international collaboration. They also show the potential of incorporating cross-cultural online discussion activities in foreign language classrooms. However, language teachers will need to plan online collaborations carefully and design interactive activities to promote students' participations. text Copyright by Chiao-Ling Chen, 2006 Teaching English to speakers of other languages Linguistics Teaching English as a Second Language University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign M.A. Thesis