- Introduction
In this research, I seek to explore how the similarities-differences and privilege-disadvantage dialectics inform the dynamics of teamwork and collaboration in a virtual exchange (VE) with university-level participants from Finland and Iran. The results of this study will add to the knowledge on the VE experiences of university students, in particular English language majors, and inform about how interculturality develops through the negotiation of identity and discourse in VEs.
- Dialectics
Martin and Nakayama (1999) have proposed six dialectics that coexist in intercultural encounters, two of which are similarities-differences and privilege-disadvantage. The former dialectic runs counter to the traditional intercultural communication research, which overemphasizes differences, and acknowledges the coexistence of similarities and differences, and the latter indicates that an individual can be privileged and disadvantaged depending on the context (Martin, 2017).
1.2 Virtual exchange as a context for intercultural contact
Virtual exchange is a pedagogical method and learning arrangement used to provide a platform for developing linguistic and intercultural competencies (O'Dowd, 2018).
Research Questions
1. How do the similarities-differences and privilege-disadvantage dialectics become visible in the dynamics of teamwork and collaboration in a virtual exchange program using English as a lingua franca?
2. Methods
2.1 Participants
This study will be performed among participants from Finland and Iran. Specifically, 14-17 undergraduate students of English Literature/Teaching English as a Foreign Language from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM), Iran, and 14-17 undergraduate students of English from the University of Jyväskylä will be recruited. The project will be run from 20 October to 20 December 2022 with recruitment facilitated by teachers from both universities.
2.2 Procedure
I will design the VE tasks on the general themes of equity, the role of media in creating representations of countries, and how identity is constructed. The VE will be run for eight weeks, and the tasks will be completed in small groups comprising students from Finland and Iran. At the end of the program, semi-structured interviews will be conducted with six students separately.
2.3 Data analysis
To understand the role of the similarities-differences and privilege-disadvantage dialectics in the dynamics of teamwork and collaboration in the VE, I will leverage the data obtained from participants' learning diaries and semi-structured interviews. Data analysis will be based on thematic analysis, which involves data familiarization, data coding, theme development, and revision (Clarke & Braun, 2014).
Significance of the Study
The research fills an important gap because there are scarce opportunities for intercultural teaching projects through virtual exchange between the Nordics and the Middle East.
References
Clarke, V., & Braun, V. (2014). Thematic analysis. In Encyclopedia of critical psychology (pp. 1947-1952). Springer, New York, NY.
Martin, J. N. (2017). Dialectics of culture and communication. The International Encyclopedia of Intercultural Communication, 1-6.
Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K. (1999). Thinking dialectically about culture and communication. Communication theory, 9(1), 1-25.
O'Dowd, R. (2018). From telecollaboration to virtual exchange: State-of-the-art and the role of UNICollaboration in moving forward. Research-publishing. net, 1, 1-23.
