Open Intercultural Dialogue: educator perspectives

Abstract

While language educators are being encouraged to exploit the Web for authentic intercultural communication, research is showing that rather than bringing people from different backgrounds together, the Internet is offering a platform for people to express their opinions with those who share similar ideas. When intercultural contact does occur, it often appears to be highly conflictual. This paper begins with a brief discussion of the open Web and intercultural dialogue, followed by an overview of attitudes to conflict in education and foreign language teaching and learning. We then turn to our preliminary study of the perspectives of educators from European universities on disagreement and the discussion of sensitive topics in online intercultural exchange. Our data indicate a considerable divergence of views and a great need for dialogue amongst educators and further research into this topic.