Enhancing Intercultural Collaborative Learning in a Multinational Classroom: Case of Taiwan

Abstract

With more international programs being offered by universities in Asia nowadays, students have the opportunity to study together with foreign classmates. However, in practice, there exists a level of mistrust and apprehension between local and foreign students, especially among those with different physical appearances and distant cultural backgrounds. This research aimed to identify and understand intercultural obstacles to in-class collaboration among local Taiwanese students and their foreigner classmates in a Taiwan international college. Data were collected through an open-ended questionnaire and participant observation from 52 students of different nationalities (Haitian, Indian, Malaysian, Indonesian, Thai, American-Chinese, New Zealand-Chinese, Mongolian and Taiwanese). In order to minimize cultural bias, two researchers jointly conducted content analysis in combination with ethnographic observation. This study found that differences in physical appearance and communication styles strongly deterred intercultural communication among the students in the beginning. It was found that in-class group discussions and group projects helped to dispel negative stereotypes, by cultivating greater mutual respect and understanding among the students in a multinational classroom. In fact, several misunderstandings and cultural conflicts could have been resolved in the classroom. Findings suggest that teachers have a crucial role in developing students' intercultural competence by implementing collaborative learning methods.

A Case Study of ASEAN EFL Learners’ Collaborative Writing and Small Group Interaction Patterns in Google Docs

“…Thus, teachers of a CW classroom ought to emphasize cross-cultural differences and communication strategies (Lewis, 2006) that could influence group interaction, including the practice of language functions on peer writing that may inculcate learners to become more captivating writers as they learn to comment and respond to suggestions. Furthermore, learners' divergent cultural orientation must be embraced and regarded as assets not as hindrances (Chen & Sujarittanonta, 2014) to eliminate negative stereotypes; rather, they must show mutual respect and in that they can work in harmony while joining in knowledge creation. In the interviews, these six learners noted that CW with members from different cultures could enhance their cultural awareness.…”

International marriage migration: The predicament of culture and its negotiations

“…IMM has been differently labelled by different literature. Existing literature refers to IMM as cross‐border marriage, transnational, international, binational or intercultural (Chen & Huang, 2006), intermarriage (Roer‐Strier & Ben Ezra, 2006), cross‐cultural marriage (Wise & Velayutham, 2008) or mixed marriage (Rodríguez‐García, 2006) to highlight the couples' cultural, ethnic, religious or societal differences (Williams, 2010). IMM could also be disaggregated into marriage‐led migration and migration‐led marriage, though this article focuses specifically on marriage‐led migration.…”

Multinational Classroom as the Current Trend in Higher Education Internationalization at Thai Nguyen University

“…Nowadays, with the globalization of education, students have more chances to obtain international experiences even if they do not need to go abroad. Chen & Sujarittanonta [1] point out those students who study in a local degree program, also study together with foreign classmates. Those classrooms make the first brick for education and culture exchange.…”