Abroad, on Campus, or Zoom: Comparing the Best Environments for Pragmalinguistic Awareness
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v36i3.877Keywords:
College-level, German, intercultural communicative competency, pragmalinguistics, second language acquisition, study abroadAbstract
The role of culture instruction in modern language classrooms has varied through the years, most recently presenting the option to learn virtually as opposed to on campus or abroad. The current study compares various learning environments of 49 participants (in-person, abroad, Zoom) to test the efficacy of targeted culture instruction through the analysis of a short film-clip. The research questions guiding this study are: 1) How effective are targeted pragmatic interventions in promoting intercultural communicative competency? 2) Do students studying abroad, online, or on the home-campus approach and complete pragmatic activities similarly? The results from these data suggest that the study away and Zoom participants engaged in the target culture in more meaningful ways than their at-home peers. This initial analysis indicates that short-term study abroad programs and Zoom learning provide environments that may encourage pragmalinguistic and cultural awareness in ways that differ from home-campus based courses, especially when coupled with in-class interventions.
Abstract in GermanIn den letzten Jahren hat sich die Rolle der Kulturpädagogik im Fremdsprachenunterricht geändert, insbesondere mit der Möglichkeit jetzt virtuell zu lernen statt auf dem Campus oder im Ausland. In der vorliegenden Studie werden die unterschiedlichen Lernumgebungen von 49 Teilnehmern (auf dem Campus, im Ausland, auf Zoom) verglichen, um die Wirksamkeit gezielter Kulturpädagogik durch die Analyse eines kurzen Filmclips zu testen. Folgende Forschungsfragen leiten diese Studie: 1) Wie wirksam sind gezielte pragmatische Interventionen in der Förderung interkultureller Kommunikationskompetenz? 2) Gehen Studenten im Ausland, online, oder auf dem Campus pragmatische Aktivitäten in ähnlicher Weise heran? Gibt es einen Unterschied in der Fertigstellung derselben Aktivitäten? Die Ergebnisse der Daten schlagen vor, dass sich die Teilnehmer im Ausland und auf Zoom auf eine bedeutendere Weise mit der Zielkultur auseinandersetzen als ihre Kommilitonen auf dem Heimatcampus. Diese erste Analyse deutet darauf hin, dass kurzfristige Auslandprogramme und Zoomlernen Umgebungen schaffen, die pragmalinguistisches (oder sprachliches?) und kulturelles Bewusstsein fördern, in Weisen, die sich von dem Unterricht auf dem Heimatcampus unterscheiden, vor allem wenn sie in Verbindung mit Interventionen im Unterricht stattfinden.
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