Pre-Service EFL Teachers' Online Collaboration with International Partners: Benefits and Challenges

Tez Türü: Bütünleşik Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Yabancı Diller Yüksek Okulu, Yabancı Diller Bölümü, Türkiye

Tez Danışmanı: Nurdan Gürbüz

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2023

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Özet:

With the advent of the internet and the software programs, instructional practices have gone under significant changes. With the help of technology, some projects and programs which bring students from geographically distant locations have been designed by employing virtual exchange. These projects and programs have various aims, some of which are enhancing language learning, improving intercultural communicative competence of learners, and so on. This study aims to investigate the perceived impacts of the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) experience on speaking skills and Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) of the participants who are pre-service language teachers in a state university in Ankara with a focus on the perceived benefits and the challenges experienced during the program. The participants shared their weekly reflections on the materials which were used during the course. They also completed six tasks by working in groups including students from the partner universities and submitted their e-portfolios individually by answering the prompts. After completing the program, 11 of the participants were interviewed to collect data on their perceptions about the project, challenges, and improvements they experienced. The data were analyzed by employing thematic analysis approach to come up with the essential categorization based on Byram’s (2020) Intercultural Competence Assessment Model. The results of the study will contribute to virtual exchange program designers and faculty members designing courses for university students, especially pre-service language teachers.