Capturing potential learning sequences in intercultural interactions through telecollaboration

Abstract

Telecollaboration allows for students to develop foreign/second language competences linguistically, culturally, and interculturally. The use of platforms, such as WhatsApp and Zoom, is now more frequently exploited in foreign language education to ensure that a wider cross section of students, including Jamaicans, can develop global competences. This paper reports on Phase 4 of ClerKing, a six-week Franco-Jamaican telecollaborative project, which occurred between Applied Foreign Languages (AFL) students of English from University Clermont Auvergne (UCA), France, and students of various disciplines taking French courses in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Jamaica. Telecollaboration consisted in 45 participants of mixed ages and genders discussing different intercultural topics in groups. Using the exploratory approach, we seek to identify moments of Potential Learning Sequences (PLS). Preliminary findings show that PLS could be made apparent through vocabulary and syntax development, culture-specific knowledge, and negotiation of meaning.