Dr. Julie Chen (Taiwan) describes the global project where she and Dr. David Stoloff (Connecticut) have been engaging their students in intercultural exchanges. This was used in her ISTE webinar.

1. Global Connections between
First Year Undergraduates in
Taiwan and Connecticut
2015 Global Education Conference

2. Background: Taiwan Context
O New literacies of online reading
comprehension:
O 1) identifying important questions;
O 2) locating, information;
O 3) analyzing, information;
O 4) synthesizing information; and
O 5) communicating information.
O Intercultural Interaction in EFL course

3. Instructional Design with EFL
Students
O Phase 1: Building a good rapport
O Self-introduction & Social Network Sites
O Phase 2: Discussing Culture-related
topics
O Show & Tell: Searching, Synthesizing
information of local cultures
O Online Feedback from EFL students
O Phase 3: Development of Project
O Comparing and Contrasting
O Phase 4: Wrap up & Self-Reflection

4. Topics
O Group A: Parenting styles
O Group B: Traditional Food in Taiwan
O Group C: Hakka Food
O Group D: Wedding Traditions
O Group E: Night-Market Delicacies ???
O Group F: Festivals
O Group G: Taiwan Snacks ???

5. Methodology
O EFL Participants: N = 32
O 7 groups: 4-5 EFL students of
Intermediate English Proficiency
O Data Collection
O Intercultural Competence Scale:
O pre- and post-
O Online Feedback and Field Observation
O Self-Reflection

6. Pre-survey (Chao, 2014)
O Delete 3 irrelevant statements
O I can eat what others eat in culturally diverse situations.
O I can modify the way I dress when it is necessary in
intercultural situations.
O I know how to use the culture-value approach to understand
the attitudes and behaviors of people from different cultures.
O 27 Questions
O Factor 1: Knowledge of Intercultural Interaction (mean = 3.254)
O Factor 2: Affective Orientation to Intercultural Interaction
(mean = 4.385)
O Factor 3: Self-Efficacy in Intercultural Situations (mean = 3.33)
O Factor 4: Behavior Performance in Intercultural Interaction
(mean = 3.441)
O Factor 5: Display of intercultural consciousness (m = 3.254)
O Lowest ranking: I can effectively use English to communicate
with other people of different cultural backgrounds. 2.83

7. Online Feedback
O Strengths:
O One-on-one Good Rapport, learning engagement
in searching, synthesizing & communicating
information (draw on various sources)
O Know one’s own cultures and development of
world knowledge
O Weaknesses:
O Receive no replies
O English proficiency: difficulties to describe
O How effectively communicate this online?
Development of the project?

8. Pedagogical Implications
O Selection of topics
O Study of relevant information from various
sources
O Approaches for intercultural discussions:
Creativity (photo), stories, interview

9. References:
O Chao, T. C. (2014). The development and application of an intercultural
competence scale for university EFL learners. English Teaching &
Learning, 79-124.
O Chen, I. C. (2015). Literature Circles in EFL Classroom. Paper presented
at the 2014 Hwa Kang International Conference on English Language &
Literature.
O Leu, D. J., Zawilinski, L., Castek, J., Banerjee, M., Housand, B. C., Leu,
Y., & O’Neil, M. (2007). What is new about the new literacies of online
reading comprehension. In L. S. Rush, J. A. Eakle, and A. Berger (Eds.),
Secondary School Literacy: What Research Reveals for Classroom
Practice. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.