Impacts of online collaborative learning on students’ intercultural communication apprehension and intercultural communicative competence

Abstract

This study explores the impacts of an online collaborative learning program on students' intercultural communication apprehension (ICA) and intercultural communicative competence (ICC). The participants were 150 voluntary students (73 Vietnamese and 77 Taiwanese students). The students were assigned into two groups. The Control Group consisted of one class of 36 Taiwanese (taught by a Taiwanese teacher) and one class of 38 Vietnamese students (taught by a Vietnamese teacher) based in their home countries. The Experimental Group (37 Vietnamese and 39 Taiwanese students) consisted of two classes of 38 students. Each experimental class had both Vietnamese and Taiwanese students, co-taught by a Vietnamese teacher and a Taiwanese teacher and were assigned into bicultural pairs for unguided online collaborative learning. A pretest and posttest of ICA and ICC were used to measure the effects of the 10-week intervention on the students’ ICA and ICC. Results showed that online collaborative learning significantly reduced the students' ICA and improved their ICC. The Vietnamese students were more receptive to online collaborative learning to enhance their ICC while the Taiwanese students’ ICC developed more significantly than Vietnamese students in face-to-face learning. Teachers may apply online collaborative learning to teaching students from different cultures to enhance their ICC and reduce ICA.