Remote Cultural
Exchange Happens in Real Time
By Jessica Brophy '04
Early on a Friday morning, Candace Walton's French language students
pile into a Smith classroom that's well furnished with computer
equipment. An undercurrent of anticipation is evident -- unusual for
a 9 a.m. class at the end of the school week.
In Paris, James Benenson's English class mills about, impatiently
waiting for the day to end. The students are about to enjoy
the French version of spring break, but have one more important conversation
to conduct before heading off.
Both groups settle themselves in front
of computers, Web cameras and microphones and begin conversing,
screen-to-screen, in real time.
Cross-Cultural Connections
is the first course of its kind at Smith. Walton, who specializes
in the teaching of foreign languages, conceived the course
as a way to use new technologies, such as webcam conferencing, to promote
cultural understanding. Walton's students look forward to talking
every Friday morning with their Parisian counterparts.
"At the very
first video-conferencing session, my students asked to stay
after class to talk longer," said Walton. "They've
already become friends with the French students, and they stayed an extra
hour just to talk."
Smith
students meet French students every week in an online conversation.
Communicating with members of a class in Paris are, left
to right, Lauren Reed, Sarah Martin and Meghan Hoke, all in the class
of 2006. Photo by Jessica Brophy '04.
Benenson's college-aged students are
engineering majors attending the École
Normale Supérieure de Télécommunications who are learning
English primarily to further their careers.
Whether linked "face to face" by
webcam, writing in an online forum or answering culture questionnaires designed
for the course, the students especially enjoy engaging in word association.
Walton notes that such an exercise can be quite effective in revealing subtle
differences between French and American culture.
"If you look at the
French responses for ‘individualism,' for
example, they are generally negative, while American responses are generally
positive," she points out.
Online forum and e-mail interaction between foreign language students is
an idea credited to Gilberte Furstenberg of MIT, who later developed Cultura,
a project designed to encourage intercultural exchange in language courses.
Walton's course extends the Cultura concept by adding Web conferencing
for real-time conversations. She finds the new dimension "a great
way to discuss the hard-to-put-your-finger-on cultural differences."
"It's
a wonderful opportunity for an American student to engage with a French
person, and the French students are just dying to know what American
students are like," she explains. "It creates the interesting
possibility of American students already having friends in
France if they decide to study or travel there." |
