DEVELOPING LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE BY INTERACTION WITH FOREIGN STUDENTS USING SKYPE IN ENGLISH CLASSES

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES LE THUY NGA DEVELOPING LOWER-SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE BY INTERACTION WITH FOREIGN STUDENTS USING SKYPE IN E

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

LE THUY NGA

DEVELOPING LOWER-SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE BY INTERACTION WITH FOREIGN STUDENTS USING SKYPE IN ENGLISH CLASSES (Phát triển năng lực liên văn hóa của học sinh bậc THCS thông qua tương tác với học sinh nước ngoài sử dụng Skype trong các giờ dạy tiếng Anh)

M.A THESIS

Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201

THAI NGUYEN – 2019

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

LE THUY NGA

DEVELOPING LOWER-SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’

INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE BY INTERACTION WITH FOREIGN

STUDENTS USING SKYPE IN ENGLISH CLASSES (Phát triển năng lực liên văn hóa của học sinh bậc THCS thông qua tương tác với học sinh nước ngoài sử dụng Skype trong các giờ dạy tiếng Anh)

M.A THESIS (APPLICATION ORIENTATION) Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201

Supervisor: Dr Nguyen Thanh Long

THAI NGUYEN – 2019

DECLARATION -***** -

I certify that the minor thesis entitled “Developing lower-secondary school students’ intercultural competence by interaction with foreign students using Skype

in English classes” is my own study in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Foreign Language Faculty, Thai Nguyen University

Thai Nguyen, July 15, 2019

Approved by SUPERVISOR

Dr Nguyen Thanh Long

Le Thuy Nga

Second, I’m especially thankful to teachers from School of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University for their valuable advice and spiritual support

in the preparation and completion of this study

I also would like to thank Ms Hoang Thi Hai Yen (English Teacher, Doan Thi Diem Ha Long School), Ms Bui Thi Kim Ngan (English Teacher, Doan Thi Diem Ha Long School) and five students of Doan Thi Diem Ha Long School who participated in the pilot study, contributing greatly to the finalization of the interview and as a result, to the completion of the research

I am so grateful to Ms Ha Thi Trang (Head of English Department, Doan Thi Diem Ha Long School) for contacting the participants for my research I am also indebted to all of the participants for their invaluable responses to my interview Without them, this research would not have been possible

Last but not least, I dedicate this thesis to my loving family, my husband, my daughter and my son for their ongoing support and love

ABSTRACT

Language teaching and learning can be seen as a great means to develop the intercultural awareness of language learners, which is the ultimate goal of language education in this era English, as widely accepted, has become an international language and the number of non-native English speakers has outnumbered native ones by twice In this sense, English language teaching and learning must include in itself the development of intercultural awareness in the learner One key purpose of English teaching is to develop learners’ awareness of cultural differences reflected

in languages Therefore, the teacher’s role needs to include that of helping learners

to realize that thoughts and views of different nationalities and different types of societies about nature and human society are quite different Therefore, it is of great importance to address culture as an integrated part of the language teaching and learning process, so as to help students to have a good command of necessary cultural knowledge, to develop intercultural skills, and to raise their intercultural awareness

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

ABSTRACT v

Abbreviations viii

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES ix

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Research topic area 1

2 The study context 2

3 Focus of the study 3

4 Rationale of the study 4

5 Structure of the thesis 5

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 7

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 7

1.1 Intercultural competence 7

1.2 Motivation 11

1.3 Technology, CALL and ICT, and Skype in ELT 12

1.3.1 Technology 12

1.3.2 CALL and ICT 15

1.3.3 Skype 17

1.4 Conclusion 20

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 21

2.1 Field site and participants 22

2.2 Data collection methods 23

2.2.1 Interviews 23

2.2.2 Classroom Observation 25

2.2.3 Participants’ diaries and reflections 26

2.3 Data analysis methods 27

2.4 Ethical considerations and data reliability 28

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 30

3.1 Students’ conceptualizations of intercultural competence 30

3.2 Students’ motivation on learning English by interactions in English using Skype 33 3.2.1 A proactive approach to learning tasks 33

3.2.2 Students’ emotional reactions in interactive lessons 35

3.3 Components of intercultural competence developed from interactions with culturally different people 37

3.4 Discussion 39

PART C: CONCLUSION 41

1 Summary of the key findings 41

2 Pedagogical implications of the study 42

3 Limitations of the study 43

4 Recommendations 44

REFERENCES 46 APPENDIXES I Appendix 1: Interview guide I Appendix 2: Classroom observation protocol III Appendix 3: Diaries and/or reflection instructions V

Abbreviations

CALL: Computer Assisted Language Learning

CEFR: The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages ELT: English Language Teaching

IC: Intercultural Competence

ICC: Intercultural Communicative Competence

ICT: Information and Communications Technology

FL: Foreign Language

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1 Byram’s model of five components of intercultural communicative

competence, from Byram

Table 2.1 Demographic information about participants

Table 2.2 Interviews

Table 2.3 Classroom observations

Section 2 of the chapter describes the study context with a summary of the history of language education in Vietnam in general and foreign language teaching and learning

in Doan Thi Diem Ha Long School in particular Section 3 describes the focus of the study, which states the overarching research question and sub-research questions The rationale for the study will be presented in section 4 The last section reveals the structure for the presentation of the thesis

1 Research topic area

In this day and age, mobility has become a part of every student’s life Most students now have a chance to visit other countries for educational purposes and learn more about other cultures Therefore, learning foreign languages has become the norm

in the globalized world It is inevitable that students need a certain level of intercultural knowledge and competence to be able to survive in new cultures and educational contexts In this respect, one’s understanding of the new cultures, as well as his/her own culture, has a central role to become a globalized citizen Learning a language without culture is a recipe for becoming what Bennett (1993) calls a “fluent fool” A fluent fool is someone who speaks a foreign language well, but does not understand the social and philosophical content of that language

Hence, the foreign language teachers’ role has become increasingly important since they serve as a medium to teach both the language and the culture of the foreign language In this regard, Jiang (2000) states: "Language and culture are inseparable." Moreover, over time, more and more English teachers realize that when the lesson is

integrated with cultural factors, students will acquire and improve communication skills Kramsch (1998: 1) emphasized in his study that: "Culture in language learning is not an expendable fifth skill, tacked on, so to speak, to the teaching of speaking, listening, reading, and writing It is always in the background, right from day one, ready to unsettle the good language learners when they expect it least, making evident the limitations of their hard-won communicative competence, challenging their ability

to make sense of the world around them" This means that culture is not a fifth skill in language teaching, associated with listening, speaking, reading and writing This is the basis for pointing out the limits of communication capacity, challenging learners' abilities and pointing out the meaning of the world Thus, regarding the need to investigate culture and culture teaching in different context of foreign language teaching, the study explores the relevance of how interactions on Skype with culturally different peers using English help lower-secondary school students’ development of intercultural competence

2 The study context

Teaching and learning foreign languages, especially the teaching English in Vietnam, attracts the attention of many social classes Chronologically, the teaching of English in Vietnam can be divided into three main periods: the first period extends from the beginning of the French invasion of Vietnam up to 1954, the second period, from 1954 to 1975; and the third period, from 1975 to 1986 During the twenty years since national reunification in 1975, the teaching and learning of foreign languages have experienced many major changes, and after each change a language usually emerges as the main one taught in school Before 1986, Russian was a compulsory language at universities and at many institutions there were much more teachers of Russian than the ones of English In 1986, when the Vietnamese Communist Party initiated its overall economic reform, conditions for a thorough look at the role of foreign languages in national development started to emerge The period from 1986 up

to present is characterized by the rapid growth and expansion of English in Vietnam This English boom began in December 1986, when at its Six National Congress the

Vietnamese Communist Party initiated an overall economic reform known as Đổi mới

(Renovation), opening the door of Vietnam to the whole world In such context, English becomes the first (nearly and only) foreign language to be taught in Vietnam It

is a compulsory subject from grade 3 to grade 12 in most of schools in Vietnam in general and in Ha Long in particular English is taught in schools, universities and even foreign language centers across the country Most primary schools in Ha Long City including Doan Thi Diem Ha Long School are now teaching English to pupils in grade

1, 2 instead of 3 as starting class in the project “Teaching and learning foreign languages in the national education system between 2008-2020” by the Ministry of Education

The linguist Robert Lado defines the goal of learning a foreign language as “the ability to use it, understanding its meanings and connotations in terms of the target language and culture, and the ability to understand the speech and writing of natives of the target culture in terms of their great ideas and achievement” (Lado, 1964: 25) Therefore, the English teaching inevitably involves the culture teaching of target language

It has long been assumed that language and culture are strongly linked to each other and an important aspect of learning a foreign language is learning its culture However, teachers in different classrooms in different parts of the world still ignore the importance of teaching culture as a part of language study

3 Focus of the study

The study aims to examine how interactions on Skype with culturally different peers using English help lower-secondary school students’ development of intercultural competence

In order to fulfill these overall aims, three specific objectives that have been identified, including:

1 To explore lower-secondary school students’ perceptions of intercultural competence;

2 To examine lower-secondary school students’ motivation to learn English regarding the use of Skype in English classes to interact with foreign students and teachers;

3 To assess student preferences regarding intercultural competence development

in culture-learning activities

The overarching research question formulated for this research is as follows:

How do Skype sessions assist lower-secondary school students develop their intercultural competence?

The sub-questions of the study were:

(1) How do lower-secondary school students perceive intercultural competence? (2) To what extent do lower-secondary school students are motivated to learn English by interactions in English using Skype?

(3) What components of intercultural competence do interactions with culturally different people via Skype develop?

4 Rationale of the study

Vietnam is also experiencing an exponential increase in the use of ICT in education and has taken steps to create favourable condition to incorporate ICT into its education system (Dang et al., 2013) The most crucial strategies for ICT adoption in education in Vietnam are contained in Directive No 55/2008/CT-BGDDT and Decision No 1400/QD-TTg The former is seen by Dang et al (2013, p.13) as a

‘turning point in the strengthening of ICT use in education in Vietnam for the period 2008-2012’ whereas the latter is ‘a national project’ on FL teaching and learning for the period 2008-2020 focusing on ‘professional development for teachers, ICT use in teaching and learning foreign languages and investment in technical facilities’ In order

to achieve such aim, ICT application in lower-secondary education is very important Research context for this study is not an exception

This study investigates the use of Skype in English classes in Doan Thi Diem

Ha Long School in North Vietnam More specifically, it seeks to develop secondary school students’ intercultural competence through interaction with foreign students using Skype in English classes and hopefully to propose suggestions for improving English speaking classes Doan Thi Diem Ha Long School has been known

lower-as a free-stress studying environment and gained much reputation so far The English teaching curriculum which was well-designed with full MOET syllabi integrated with international English programs helps students be active, confident, independent and develop themselves mentally and physically Students of Doan Thi Diem Ha Long School are enjoying a large number of lectures accompanied with PPT and virtual learning, especially in the classes of more instructional teaching hours It is worth noticing that for the purpose of this study, Skype which has been used in English classes is ‘a sub category of the larger field of virtual learning and technology’ Witnessing the prevalence of virtual learning in English classes at Doan Thi Diem Ha Long School, I was wondering whether or not they have positive educational impacts

on students’ perceptions of intercultural competence

5 Structure of the thesis

The research paper consists of three parts: A, B and C Part A, Introduction is followed by the other two parts: Development and Conclusion The Introduction has

provided the research topic area, the study context, the focus of the study and the rationale of the study

Following Part A, there are 3 chapters in Part B including Literature Review, Methodology and Findings and discussion Chapter 1 sets up a theoretical background

for the study by dealing with a number of fundamental concepts and extant literature relating to intercultural competence, technology in FL teaching which motivates and generates the above addressed research questions This chapter also reviews some major results found from empirical studies concerning the use of virtual learning in education in general and in ELT in particular, contributing greatly to the understanding

of the theoretical background of the study Gaps in previous studies are then

highlighted at the end of Literature Review, validating the significance of the study

Chapter 2 describes the methodological approach of the study The choice of qualitative approach is explained with justification for this approach provided in order

to enrich data and help answer the research questions The three sources: interview, observation and students’ diaries and reflections on the Skype sessions are clearly identified and stated in this chapter The ethical issues of the study will be discussed at the end of this chapter while data reliability and validity will be addressed along the chapter where relevant

Chapter 3 reveals key findings from an analysis of the research data collected through the interview and participants’ diaries Moreover, the class’ observation is also carried out to know intercultural competence aspects in interactive learning activities Furthermore, it presents a detailed interpretation of the findings concerning students’ attitudes toward Skype sessions and its assistance in developing their intercultural competence The research question will be addressed on the basis of these findings which are discussed in relation to relevant findings from previous studies

The last part, Conclusion is devoted to summerizing the findings of the study,

focusing on pedagogical implications of the study, indicating limitations of the study, and presenting recommendations for further research so as to enhance the values of intercultural competence through virtual learning tools

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

The previous chapter outlined the three objectives of the study, which are (1) to explore lower-secondary school students’ attitudes towards intercultural competence; (2) to assess student preferences regarding the use of Skype in English classes to interact with foreign students and teachers; and (3) to assess student preferences regarding intercultural competence development in culture-learning activities In order

to address these objectives, this chapter provides the theoretical background and foundation for the research prior to a description of research metholody employed for the study

This chapter will review a large body of relevant literature Since the focus of this study is on the student preferences regarding intercultural competence development in culture-learning activities, it is necessary to begin by looking at the definition of culture, and then deal with intercultural competence Second, the studies and literature regarding the use of technology and that of virtual learning in ELT will be reviewed; and the theoretical framework of key factors influencing individual acceptance of the technology adoption in an educational context will be described Last but not least, the

gaps in previous studies will be clearly identified at the end of Literature review,

validating the significance of the study

1.1 Intercultural competence

In the last decades, Intercultural Competence was reintroduced as Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) as the result of its impact on foreign language

teaching (López-Rocha & Arévalo-Guerrero, 2014) It is necessary to distinguish

between Intercultural Competence and Intercultural Communicative Competence

According to Byram (1997), the first refer to people’s “ability to interact in their own language with the people from another country and culture,” while ICC takes into

account language teaching and focuses on “the ability to interact with people from another country and culture in a foreign language” (p 71) In Byram’s (1997) view, a person who has developed ICC is able to build relationships while speaking in the foreign language; communicates effectively, taking into consideration his own and the other person’s viewpoint and needs; mediates interactions between people of different backgrounds, and strives to continue developing communicative skills Byram (1997),

in his model of intercultural communicative competence, puts much importance on the language (linguistic competence) and also identity and cultural understanding in his conceptualization He argues that a comprehensive definition of intercultural communicative competence should include the social context and non-verbal dimensions of communication For him the components of intercultural competence are attitudes, knowledge, skills and complemented by the values one holds because of one’s belonging to a number of social group These values are part of one’s social identities Byram (1997) asserts that the foundation of intercultural competence is in the attitudes of the intercultural speaker

Intercultural competence, or IC, refers to the ability to understand cultures, including the learners’ own, and use this understanding to communicate with people from other cultures successfully, notably in their own language This competence is a key component of intercultural communicative competence, which refers to the ability

of language learners to communicate with people who come from other cultural backgrounds using the target language

Indeed, to facilitate language learners to develop Intercultural Communication Competence, language teachers, especially those teaching English as Second Language (ESL), should first be competent intercultural communicators with great confidence and sufficient experience, (Zhang, A Study on ESL Teachers’ Intercultural Communication Competence, 2017)

Byram’s (1997) model comprises the dimensions of Attitudes, Knowledge, Skills and Critical Cultural Awareness In this study, I draw on Byram’s model because it

provides the most comprehensive framework to understanding the intercultural competence and, thus far, it is considered to be the most influential model in the educational field

Attitudes

Relativizing self Valuing other

Skills

Discover and/or interact

Figure 1 Byram’s model of five components of intercultural communicative

competence, from Byram (1997, p.34)

Attitudes are essential and form the foundation for further development of the

student’s intercultural competence (Byram, Gribkova, & Starkey, 2002) To relativize yourself and value the other, he argues that we need respect for other cultures and cultural diversity, openness, curiosity and discovery The learners need to have a real motivation for learning and understanding people that are different from themselves

Knowledge refers to several different issues The knowledge that the students

need is not just cultural specific knowledge about a specific national culture, but they need cultural general knowledge about concepts that are important for understanding how communication between people with different backgrounds can be influenced, such as ethnocentrism, stereotypes and values

In addition to attitudes and knowledge, the intercultural speaker also needs a set

of skills Byram et al (2002, p.8) point out a reason why this is an important both for learners and teachers

No teacher can have or anticipate all the knowledge which learners might at some point need Indeed many teachers have not had the opportunity themselves to experience all or any of the cultures which their learners might encounter, but this is not crucial The teacher’s task is to develop attitudes and skills as much as knowledge, and teachers can acquire information about other countries together with learners; they do not need

to be the sole or major source of information

From Byram’s (1997) model, we can see that skills refer to two different

elements of intercultural competence regarding skills of interpretation and relation and critical cultural awareness

Culture is always part of foreign language teaching Culture and language are intertwined in a symbiotic balance of power To remove the cultural component from a language study eliminates the very fiber, which creates the texture and depth of communication Competence communication is interaction that is perceived as effective in fulfilling certain rewarding objectives in a way that is also appropriate to the context in which the interaction occurs (Myron & Jolene, 2013) Almost all studies

on the relationship between language, communication and culture are based on the exploration of cultural values Culture and communication are inseparable

The majority of teachers in North Vietnam seemed to limit culture to the behavioral aspect of culture, especially language behavior (Nguyen, 2013) and they did not consider their EFL teaching in a wider context of intercultural communication, i.e, communication between learners and native and, importantly, non-native speakers of the target language (Nguyen, 2014) In addition to that, teachers often gave culture a minor role in the classroom (Nguyen, Harvey & Grant, 2016) However, students have strong motivation to take part in intercultural online exchanges in English and high levels of interest in other cultures (Wach, 2013)

Culture plays a very important part in language teaching, which is widely acknowledged by English teaching circle, (Wang, 2011) Language is both a part of culture and at the same time the deepest cultural reflection English now seems to be a global language including a lot of implications for language’s learning and teaching Further, it is essential to acknowledge student preferences to be able to produce well-constructed interactive activities and deliver effective talk, bringing about more favourable experiences in the classroom Several studies have revealed that perceived usefulness and likability have direct impacts on attitudes toward the use of technology

in education and especially, in foreign language teaching and learning (Davis, 1989; Albirini, 2006; Yunus, 2007; Zhang, 2010; Dang et al., 2013) Therefore, this study aims to develop lower-secondary school students’ intercultural competence through interaction with foreign students using Skype in English classes and hopefully to propose suggestions for improving English speaking classes

1.2 Motivation

Motivation is the natural human capacity to direct energy in pursuit of a goal Human beings are purposeful People are constantly learning, and when they do, they use their energy through attention, concentration, action and imagination to make a sense of the world Most learning in schools, work and social life is active and volitional, constructing meaning from experiences and the information available, such

as when solving a problem or engaging in a conversation There is substantial evidence that motivation is consistently and positively related to educational achievement Motivation is important because throughout life, the motivated person will surpass the less motivated person in performances and outcomes, even though both have similar capacity and the same opportunities

Motivation refers to the root of a person’s desire to foster intercultural relationships and can be intrinsic or extrinsic Put simply, if a person isn’t motivated to

communicate with people from different cultures, then the components of intercultural communication competence do not really matter

What is culturally relevant to individuals evokes an intrinsic motivation – acting

or responding for satisfaction of what one is doing (solving an important problem, e.g budgeting money for food and rent) or the value of what one is doing (learning how to care for children friends or family) All people want is to be effective at what they value What individual value engages them emotionally If a person has a healthy curiosity that drives him or her toward intercultural encounters in order to learn more about self and others, then there is a foundation from which to build additional competence-relevant attitudes and skills This intrinsic motivation makes intercultural communication a voluntary, rewarding, and lifelong learning process Motivation can also be extrinsic, meaning that the desire for intercultural communication is driven by

an outside reward like money, power, or recognition While both types of motivation can contribute to ICC, context may further enhance of impede a person’s motivation to communicate across culture

The more powerful the feeling that accompanies an experience, the more likely

it will be remembered Strong emotions release hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, that heighten alertness and enhance the memory of experience These hormones are likely to be present while some of one’s strongest memories, like deep joy romance, are being made

1.3 Technology, CALL and ICT, and Skype in ELT

1.3.1 Technology

Technology has been employed to facilitate language learning for a long time (Salaberry, 2001; Dudeney & Hockly, 2007) Dudeney and Hockly (2007) affirm the increasing importance of the use of technology, which is expected to be ‘a normal part

of ELT practice in the coming years’ (p 7) One of the reasons for this is due to the fact that ‘[younger] learners are growing up with technology, and it is a natural and integrated part of their lives’ (Dudeney & Hockly, 2007, p.8) In other words, the use

of technology in classrooms is viewed as an inevitable trend in which ‘the use of technology in teaching [has become] as natural as the use of books or pens and paper’ (Dudeney & Hockly, 2007, p.8)

‘Technology’ is referred to by Zhao (2003, p.8) as ‘an ill-defined concept’ encompassing ‘a wide range of tools, artifacts, and practices, from multimedia computers to the Internet, from video tapes to on-line chat rooms, from web pages to interactive audio conferencing’ Technological resources which are currently deployed

in FL teaching and learning include audio devices, video, television and radio broadcasts, telephone, computers, and Internet (Fitzpatrick, 2004) Meanwhile, ICT is defined by Fitpatrick and Davies (2003) as an educational technology in which computers play a very important role or that is to say, as a computer-based or internet-based technology for the purpose of FL teaching and learning Along with the widespread use of computers, such acronyms as CALL and ICT have been recognized globally and attracted more attention from educators, teachers and students It should

be acknowledged that the appearance journals devoted to technology and language education proves the increasing awareness of the importance of technology in language learning and teaching Zhao (2003) and Stockwell (2007) list some of the most important journals including CALICO Journal, CALL, Language Learning and

Technology, ReCALL and system

Technology has been employed to facilitate language learning for a long time (Salaberry, 2001; Dudeney & Hockly, 2007) If the blackboard, according to Dudeney and Hockly (2007), is classified as a form of technology, then technology has been applied in language teaching for centuries Dudeney and Hockly also affirm the increasing importance of the use of technology which is expected to be ‘a normal part

of ELT practice in the coming year’ (p.7) It should be acknowledged that the birth of journals devoted to technology and language education, in which some of the most important journals listed Zhao (2003) and Stockwell (2007) are CALICo Journal, CALL, Language Learning and Technology, ReCALL and System, demonstrates the

increasing awareness in the importance of technology in FL teaching and learning

Oommen (2012) asserts that it has become common when such ‘technological tools’ as ‘PCs, laptop, …[and] overhead projector, …’ are used to deliver instructions

in the classroom and ‘it has been found very effective’ (p.54) This can be explained by the following reasons First, ‘[younger] learners’, as stated by Dudeney & Hockly (2007, p.7), ‘are growing with technology, and it is a natural and integrated part of their lives’ This is to say, the use of technology in classrooms is viewed as an inevitable trend in which ‘[we] have gone from the era of “chalk-to-chalk”… to PPT slides’ (Craig & Amernic, 2006, p.149) and ‘the use of technology in teaching [has become]

as natural as the use of books or pens and paper’ (Dudeney & Hockley, 2007, p.8) Secondly, thanks to technology, it has been able to bring a wide range of ways for students and teachers to practice English and assess performance (Dudeney & Hockley, 2007) It is increasingly clear that English which has emerged as a global language ‘is being used in technologically mediated contexts’ (ibid.) As a result, instead of constantly adopting conventional teaching methods, ‘new techniques and materials’ are required to be developed ‘so that global language learners can meet the challenges of the emerging global civilization and use the global language for their diverse needs’ (Oomnen, 2012, p.54)

However, Zhao (2003, p.8) clearly argues that ‘[a] specific technology may hold great educational potential, but, until it is used properly, it may not have any positive impact at all on learning’ Therefore, to assess the effectiveness of any technological resource is not to assess the effectiveness of the technology itself, but to assess the effectiveness of its use, leading to the importance of defining what the intelligent use of

an educational technology is As proposed by Mayer and Moreno (2003), in order to know whether or not the use of any technology is intelligent, it is necessary to take into account three aspects: cognition, instruction and technology Veronikas and Shaughnessy (2005) help clarify these three components by asking questions concerning (1) the way that people learn (cognition); (2) the way that the learning experience can be facilitated (instruction); and (3) the way that the instruction and learning can be improved with the assistance of technology (technology) Savoy et al (2009) noted that among these components, much attention has been paid to the third one since one objective that researchers attempt to achieve is to evaluate how effective the use of educational technologies is When it comes to the use of Skype in the classrooms, the author is also passionate about exploring the student perspectives on how Skype enhances instruction and learning during the lecturers

1.3.2 CALL and ICT

Along with the widespread use of computers in FL teaching and learning, such acronyms as CALL and ICT have been recognized globally and attracted more attention from educators, teachers and students

The use of computers in FL teaching dates back to the 1960s (Warschauer and Healey, 1998) Warschauer and Healey famously divide the history of CALL into three main phases which are behaviouristic CALL, communicative CALL, and integrative CALL Each stage has its own features and has witnessed changes caused by both technological and pedagogical developments Warschauer and Healey (2000), in spite

of the popularity of their analysis of the history of CALL in 1998, suggest another framework which is inconsistent with the previous one in terms of technology These inconsistences shall be discussed briefly bellow

First of all, behaviouristic CALL was conceived in the 1950s but not utilized until the 1960s and 1970s (Warschauer and Healey, 1998) whereas the first place is called

Structural CALL and dated to the 1970s-1980s in their 2000 publication This mode featured ‘repetitive language drill, referred to as drill-and-practice (or, pejoratively as

“drill-and-kill”)’ (Warschauer and Healey, 1998, p.57)

Secondly, communicative CALL which is dated to the 1980s and 1990s in Warschauer and Healey’s publication (2000) was previously said to have appeared in the late 1970s and early 1980s when the first mode was being rejected theoretically and pedagogically and when there were higher possibilities to implement individual work, resulting from the appearance of personal computers In this stage, ‘computer-based activities’ should introduce students the way to use forms rather than provide the forms, teach students grammar through a process of inductive discovery rather than through deductive explanations, create more opportunities for students to produce their own utterances instead of just repeating after language samples, and ‘use of the target language predominantly or even exclusively’ (Warschauer and Healey, 1998, p.57) Obviously, communicative CALL focused on what students did with other students while learning languages on the computers rather than on what they did on the computers Meanwhile, speaking of an attitude or purpose, communicative CALL was defined by Seedhouse (1995) as ‘an approach in which the teacher’s main purpose is to produce interaction amongst the learners, and in which the software is seen as means to that end’ (p.21)

However, the second mode also ‘began to come under criticism’ by the late 1980s and early 1990s (Warschauer and Healey, 1998, p.57) This stage is, according to Warschauer and Healey (2000), dated to the 21st century The last stage was termed by Warschauer (1996b) as integrative CALL which aims to achieve the integration of four different skills (listening, reading, speaking and writing) and of technology with the learning of language Students are encouraged to ‘use a variety of technological tools

as an ongoing process of language learning and use, rather than visiting the computer lab on a once a week basis for isolated exercises’ (p.58) All these changes have led to

the change in the teacher and learner roles with the former becoming a facilitator and the latter becoming an active participant in the learning process In the context of a more flexible and modern classroom, teacher training, therefore, plays a crucial role in creating a generation of teachers being able to ‘use multimedia and other resources effectively’ and facilitating the learning experience of students

Bax (2003, p.15) points out ‘[though] these inconsistencies [in the chronology] are not particularly important in themselves, they are peculiar and avoidable’ Clearly, a more thorough historical analysis is needed to minimize such differences in different publications

The use of CALL has been of educational benefits in FL teaching and learning (Kettemann, 1995; Gillespie & McKee, 1999) Nevertheless, Gillespie & McKee are also aware of the presence of student assistance to CALL and show a number of factors for this; namely infrastructure and compatibility, curriculum design, sound pedagogical strategies, and social and psychological constraints These factors might possibly be taken into consideration for further research if students in this research context show reluctance to lecturers’ use of Skype

It is worth noticing that ‘nowadays it is more appropriate to talk about ICT and FL teaching and learning rather than CALL’ (Fitzpatrick & Davies, 2003, p.4) ICT is now generally perceived a major part in enhancing language learning (Koet, 1999) Fitzpatrick and Davies (2003, p.4) contend ‘the growing importance and globalization

of ICT in FL teaching and learning’ is reflected by the establishment of WorldCALL in

1998

1.3.3 Skype

Speaking plays a significant role in second/foreign language learning and teaching Teachers often face a variety of difficulties in meeting learners’ needs in general and their unwillingness to communicate A large majority of students felt that they were

more relaxed in class when they had studied a great deal the night before or when they came to class prepared (Dolly, 1990, p.546)

Among the variety of ICT implications, Skype has become a prevalent educational software technology This Microsoft software enables people to connect to each other through the internet With Skype, the users can share a story, celebrate a birthday, learn

a language, hold a meeting, work with colleagues – just about anything they need to do together every day They can use Skype on whatever works best for them - on their phone or computer or a TV with Skype on it It is free to start using Skype - to speak, see and instant message other people on Skype for example They can even try out group video, with the latest version of Skype

It is always suggested that a sense of reality should be brought into the classroom when students have the opportunity to enjoy the types of activities native and other non-native speakers of the target language In language teaching, Skype can inspire students to learn the language, provide authentic learning experiences, create a student-centered classroom, facilitate intercultural exchange and help students develop 21st century skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, technology literacy, flexibility, social skills, These skills are intended to help students keep up with the lightening – pace of today’s modern markets Learners can easily make free video and voice calls, send instant messages, share files and share screens Skype provides a variety of educational opportunities for classrooms Students can connect with other students, increase their knowledge, and interact with other cultures It also provides students and teachers with the opportunity to participate in virtual tours of historical places, communicate with authors and researchers, and engage in conversations with classrooms around the world Two classrooms can call each other on Skype globally and ask questions which related to the class

Research has shown that using Internet technology can enhance the teaching and learning experience (Eaton, 2010; Levy, 2009; Mullen et al., 2009; Peterson, 2009;

Wu, Marek, & Chen, 2013) To achieve meaningful interaction in second language, students often choose to travel overseas at great expense and participate in study abroad programs Although not a subsitute for the cultural experience of a study abroad program, technology has made it possible for students to speak face-to-face with native speakers continents away via online communication tools like Skype in their home or

in a classroom Skype is a free software application that allows instant communication through text, audio or video messaging through the Internet Skype was release in 2003 and started to become one of the most popular tools for video interaction in real time Because of its great features and accessibility, Skype has been applied into foreign language learning and teaching across the world

In order to find interactive classrooms overseas, teachers should first have a Skype account and be a member of Microsoft Community or Facebook Groups: Skype

in the Classroom Enthusiasts, Mystery Skype, Skype in the Classroom or Link to the world Those are free communities that offer live transformative educational experiences for students including Virtual Field Trips, talks from Guest Speakers, classroom to classroom connections, and live collaboration projects In this study, students were connected with classrooms around the world to work on projects, explore different cultures, and build greater compassion and empathy for one another Skype collaborations were chosen based on their age group, topic, dates and times available and location As Skype Collaborations are run by teachers, it can vary, and depends on the nature of the collaboration – whether it is a one-off call or a long-term project the teachers will be working on together Usually Skype sessions are between 30 minutes

to an hour to fit in with the school lesson timings In this study, students had 35 minutes in each session to interact with foreign students through Skype in order to broaden their horizons exploring new culture and discover how much people in different cultures have in common

1.4 Conclusion

In this chapter, the relevant literature review which has been reviewed in order

to form the theoretical and conceptual framework for the study is presented From the literature review, the knowledge of intercultural competence has been discussed It has been concluded that language is connected to cultural knowledge that is the interactive and complementary It is the knowledge of the target culture that helps learners understand what is stated and motivates foreign language learners to learn the target language properly

Secondly, the research in the field of second or foreign language learning has reviewed the knowledge of technology, CALL and ICT and Skype This helps the researcher understand the online intercultural interactions

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

The study has three objectives: (1) to explore lower-secondary school students’ attitudes towards intercultural competence; (2) to assess student preferences regarding the use of Skype in English classes to interact with foreign students and teachers; and (3) to assess student preferences regarding intercultural competence development in culture-learning activities A discussion of the methodological approach and research design best suited to achieve these objectives is contained in this chapter

This is a qualitative research work with semi-structured interviews, observations and participants’ diaries and reflections as the main sources of data to answers the research questions posed in Chapter 1 (see 1.3) Ethical considerations will be discussed at the end of the chapter while data reliability and validity will be addressed along the chapter where relevant

The study adopted ethnography as its methodology Ethnography is a qualitative research method where behavior is observed in its natural setting for an extended period of time It looks at people in their cultural setting; their deed as well as their words; the implicit as well as the explicit; the way in which they interact with one another and with their social and cultural environment; what is not said as much as what is said; their language, and the symbols, rituals and shared meanings that populate their world, with the object of producing a narrative account of that particular culture, against a theoretical backdrop (Singh, 2002)

One of the advantages of ethnography is that it allows for multiple data collection methods Therefore, in this study I combined three sources of data collection: semi-structured interviews, class observations and diaries and reflections

In this study, it was assumed that teachers of English incorporating Skype into their interactive lessons have already been equipped with sufficient ICT training

2.1 Field site and participants

The study involved a school in the North of Vietnam as its field site It is a private school with all three general levels of education (i.e primary, lower-secondary and upper-secondary), established in 2011 The school offers a complete learning experience with high-equipped facilities Students are taught English from grade 1 to grade 12 in this school The reason for me to select this school as the research field site was that this school represents a site that is a normal, not an extreme one Another reason was that this school is also where I was working when my research was started, and thus it was a familiar research site for me This familiarity was also useful for my fieldwork as well as my rapport with the participants

In order to gain access to the research site, I went back to the school and asked for an appointment to meet the principal of the school In the meeting with the principal, she was presented the purpose of the study and described what I would do in the school The research activities that she was told that I planned to carry out in the school, as designed, included recruiting students of grade 6 as participants, interviewing participants; observing participant’s classes; and collecting learning materials, diaries and reflections participants noted during the observed class In addition, I also stated my commitment to protect participants in terms of ensuring the confidentiality of information and participants’ names The principal was completely supportive of me conducting the research at the school and officially allowed to carry out the research as it was proposed After that, participants were started recruiting

The participants involved in this study were 5 Vietnamese students from a class

of grade 6 of the school, including 3 girls and 2 boys They were at the age of 12 when the study was conducted All of them had been learning English for 5 years at school and their level of English language proficiency was estimated at level A1 on the CEFR The participants formed the samples of the population of lower-secondary students in

this school Table 2.1 provides demographic information about the participants, appearing in their pseudonyms

Table 2.1 Demographic information about participants

2.2 Data collection methods

In this study, the data were collected over a period of two months, from October

2018 to December 2018, from three sources: semi-structured interviews with the participants, observations of the participants’ classroom learning and participants’ diaries and reflections on the Skype sessions These data collection methods are described in details bellow

2.2.1 Interviews

Interview can create knowledge through human interaction in the conversation between the researcher and participants (Kvale, 1996) Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather information because of its flexibility and efficiency This form of flexible interviewing was chosen because it can help the interviewer to reword questions, provide prompts, adjust language, clarify points when necessary and answer questions, if any, from participants (Berg 2009) It was a qualitative data collection

strategy in which informants were asked a series of predetermined but open-ended questions Those questions were used to get lengthy and descriptive answers rather than yes/no questions The questions were in Vietnamese, short and specific

Guided by the research questions, in the interviews, the participants were asked (with a designed interview guide, which is found in Appendix 1, about (a) their feelings about the Skype collaborative lesson, (b) things that motivated them in the

interactive lesson and (c) what they saw intercultural competence During the

interviews, the participants also shared with me their plans of using English in the future Semi-structured interviews were conducted after the classroom observations Totally, 5 semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants These interviews were conducted in places which were convenient for the participants in term

of where the participants said they felt comfortable All the interviews occurred without the presence of any other person and were recorded using a digital voice recorder with the permission of the participants during the time they were conducted Table 2.2 provides information about these interviews