2. The Internet enables learners and teachers to undertake tasks and carry out various projects throughout the school year without travelling and without incurring avoidable expense. Work on an Internet forum stimulates learner motivation and renders possible the effective teaching/learning of intercultural skills in classroom conditions. Learner and teacher assume new roles in the educational process in a natural way.
2.1 Exchange on a forum and traditional school exchanges
The time factor and speed of exchange make the Internet very attractive as compared with traditional school exchanges. Work on an Internet forum takes one across frontiers without having to move. It offers the opportunity to work within the intercultural framework free of undue procedures and without disorganising the school timetable. It enables the whole class to participate, even those pupils who, for financial or other reasons, could not afford to take part in a traditional school exchange. Class work on an Internet forum also allows continuity over the entire school year, which traditional school exchanges do not.
The ideal, of course, would be a combination of these two forms of interaction between classes in different countries and cultures. However, it seems better to begin with common work on the Internet; this can be followed up later by a real exchange, which would then be more fruitful because of the earlier contacts.
2.2 Learner motivation to work on an Internet forum
In-depth learning is not possible unless there is real learner motivation. In work on an Internet forum, curiosity about others and the desire to get to know oneself are used to stimulate and maintain pupil motivation.
The play aspect of forum work is also very important. The pupil does not have the impression of performing hard, tiring work that is imposed on him. On the contrary, he feels he is taking part in a game, an exciting activity in which much depends on himself, his choices, his creativity and his will. Strongly emphasising learner initiative, Internet forum work can maintain motivation for longer periods. Youngsters really need to see the immediate effects and practical usefulness of what they do. In Internet forum work they very soon see the point of their learning efforts, as regards both their linguistic proficiency and their cognitive, cultural and intercultural skills.
The topics chosen for communal class work on an Internet forum and the tasks performed in common can offer the opportunity to carry out interdisciplinary work with the help of specialist teachers in the same school, with each pupil discovering the subject that interests him most.
2.3 Defining the tasks to be performed on a forum
Teachers must first of all determine what they wish to do together on the forum and then decide on the means of achieving those aims.
The preparations for embarking on class work on an Internet forum represent almost as motivating and interesting a phase for the learners as the actual forum work.
The partner classes begin by setting out the aims of the work, and the different stages and timetable. A whole series of decisions has to be taken on the organisation of the forum, the practical tasks to be performed, forms of work and timetable, and the way in which this work will fit into the compulsory school programme. It is essential for the learners to be involved at all these stages and take responsibility for them. A good deal of this work can be done outside the school, without disturbing ordinary classes. Indeed, there are schools which set aside time for the implementation of interdisciplinary projects, and this is a practice that will certainly develop.
2.4 Teacher and learner in the intercultural pedagogy of a forum – new roles and tasks
The less artificial the learning situation, the more interesting and motivating it is for the learner. The more motivated the learner, the more responsible he feels, and the more aware of his role in the entire learning process.
Class work on an Internet forum emphasises learner initiative and encourages pupils to assume more and more autonomy. The teacher’s role changes at the same time. He is no longer regarded by the learners as an absolute authority, as the sole source of knowledge. The teacher’s presence is seen rather as a potential for help, to which recourse may be had for linguistic, technological or intercultural know-how. So he takes on the role of guide, supporting the learner in his learning and self-learning. In acquiring intercultural skills via the Internet, learners often become teachers to others, including the teachers themselves.
In an ordinary class the teacher generally concentrates on the average pupils. The weakest then find the level and pace too hard, and the brightest ones get bored. But with Internet forum work each pupil can work at his own pace and adjust his work to his own level. With the teacher’s help, the pupil will be able to define, develop and adapt his objectives in accordance with his individual needs and potential.
The Internet forum gives value to what the pupils produce. They do not do it just to be read and marked by the teacher, but for an exchange with other persons who actually exist.
The learner’s work on an Internet forum leads to a degree of linguistic autonomy, and sparks interest in expression. Even the weakest pupils try their best to be understood, have no hesitation is seeking the teacher’s help and using dictionaries and other available aids. Internet forum work fosters the development of a process of linguistic self-correction.
2.5 Assessment and self-assessment of forum work
Thinking about oneself and observing one’s own learning process are important because they lay the foundations of self-assessment. It falls to the learner, with the help of the teacher, to assess progress in the framework of the objectives set. The difference between this approach and usual practice is enormous. Instead of assessment on the basis of common objectives for all the pupils in the class, learning is assessed according to individualised criteria. Success in linguistic and cultural learning via Internet forum work will be all the greater as the learners are given more autonomy, in preparation, in the work proper, and in assessing the results of that work. The learner will himself be more motivated and keen to work better, to achieve better results and to reach objectives he has set for himself, and in this lies the sense of all teaching and the condition of its success.
2.6 Teaching/learning of intercultural skills through a forum
The use of the Internet in language lessons is no longer a novelty, but the aim now must be to make it a tool for developing intercultural awareness and competence in pupils.
Computer-based school interaction demonstrates to learners that the language they are learning can become a tool for discovering the cultural wealth of other countries and for a fuller awareness of their own cultural identity. Through this work pupils are able to set their own perception of any given fact, attitude, behaviour or judgment as offered by textbooks, teachers or the media against the opinion of other people on the same subject.
The intercultural perspective afforded by Internet forum work encourages pupils constantly to relativise their views and develop dialogue. Use of the Internet alters the traditional working methods in language lessons. One moves beyond the confines of a place, a town or a country. The Internet makes it possible to perform, with real social players, tasks in which use of the language is justified and natural. However, the use of this language is not an aim in itself. Internet class work creates a more natural context in which the language is employed as a tool for communicating interculturally.
The pupil goes on to the forum out of curiosity: he wants to get to know the Other. The more different that Other is, the more interesting it becomes. First of all the learner looks for difference. Only afterwards does he realise that, over and beyond differences, the underlying values are usually the same. So he then begins to look for similarities and common features, and learns to move beyond appearances.
The teacher becomes a mediator between two or more cultures. His attitudes and views influence the didactic process. He chooses the strategies which he considers best for transmitting knowledge, know-how and intercultural skill. He must guide the learner in his virtual journeys through languages and cultures. He has to bring sensitivity to his pupils, for where questions of cultural identity are concerned it is vital to be open-minded and inquisitive but at the same time respectful and sensitive.
The Common European Framework of Reference states: “In an intercultural approach, it is a central objective of language education to promote the favourable development of the learner’s whole personality and sense of identity in response to the enriching experience of otherness in language and culture”. (The Common European Framework of Reference, ch. 1.1, p.9).