| dc.description.abstract | Traditionally, foreign languages were educated in a classroom, and although the presence of a professor was mandatory it missed the natural interaction that favors an authentic experience with a target language. Over the past few years we have seen an increase in the access to new digital media; as a result the contact with the target language and its native speaker has been simplified. This thesis will investigate the development of intercultural communicative competences acquired while learning a foreign language in different settings. The research is based upon experiences of Dutch students at the University of Utrecht who are taking a course to acquire level B2 Spanish. Both the differences and the similarities between the control group in the traditional classroom and the experimental group in the 3D virtual world of Second Life are described in order to answer the research question: In which way does the digital setting, that makes interaction with a native speaker possible, favor the growth of the intercultural communicative competences while learning a foreign language?
The first part of this thesis will deal with the theoretic framework of the research. First, it will describe the different theories behind cultural aspects which link to our participants. Secondly, these aspects are linked to the verbal interaction, which allows for a prediction of several patterns that are to be expected in the participants. Third, the communicative context in which the participants take part is explained: the workings of communication and how these workings are translated within the digital setting for educating foreign languages. Finally, before entering the analysis, the study is explained within its context, presenting the subquestions and its objective. The second part of this thesis will present an analysis of the data. With the research questions we analyze each group based on their tasks, then measuring the progress they made throughout these tasks. First, the experimental group in Second Life is presented, secondly the control group in the traditional classroom. Finally, a comparison between the two groups is made in order to answer the research question.
The results show several tendencies in the digital setting that provides more opportunities to develop personal competences comparing it to the traditional classroom. First, the presence of a native speaker offers more samples of the target language and brings the presence of more cultural knowledge. Consequently, the participants will adopt more easily the discourse of a native speaker. Secondly, the digital setting provides a clearer division within the interaction; the verbal interaction becomes the most important factor which positively influences the turn taking division. Thirdly, there was a noticeable difference in the development of the two groups: the experimental group increased its efficiency, presenting fewer themes than discussed by the control group, but maintaining the profundity of the themes while dedicating more time to them.
The digital setting offers thus a considerable higher possibility for authentic interaction, which in turn allows for more development of intercultural communicative competences. Participants will have the possibility to increase their fluency in the target language greatly. However, although this research provides various examples of stimuli that promote the use of a digital setting, the limited scope of this research requests further investigation into this topic.
Special thanks go out to the NIFLAR (Networked Interaction in Foreign Language Acquisition and Research) project and its coordinator Dr. M.K. Jauregi Ondarra, which provided the resources and the framework necessary to carry out the current investigation. For further information on the project and its goals please consult the projects’ website: www.niflar.eu. | |
