Asynchronous Video-Based Discussion for the Enhancement of Intercultural Competence among Vietnamese non-English Majors

Abstract

Aiming for the assessment and development of intercultural competence (IC) in recipients of tertiary education, this research incorporates the usage of Flipgrid, a type of video discussion platform by which we facilitated an online intercultural exchange program among Vietnamese, Azerbaijani, and Chilean non-English major students. Our data collection focuses on Vietnamese students. Tools include questionnaire surveys based on the INCA framework (Byram, 2008) as a quantitative method and in-depth interviews based on those of Fantini and Tirmizi (2006) and Straffon (2003) as a qualitative method. Furthermore, we chose Flipgrid videos for data in our case studies; respondents were already familiar with this platform from the interactive components of our study. Our findings illustrate that the number of students who can develop a system of principles and then refer to them in almost any intercultural encounter is low; this appears to result from the limited scope of the main topic of the intercultural exchange, i.e., the sharing of native language (L1) proverbs in various situations. However, most participants fully respected the beliefs, values, and behavior of peers from other countries as a result of having put themselves in others' positions to understand all aspects of L1-proverb-based discussion. This openness helped Vietnamese students to view the uncertainties arising from intercultural communications as interesting challenges and they resorted to using gestures, paraphrasing, or simplifying their speech, etc., as a way out of difficulty. Moreover, in their comprehensive interview videos, they stated that exposure to accents different from those of their own country had improved their English listening skills, thereby contributing to the interpretation of intercultural experience from the perspectives of both one's own and one's faraway peers' worldviews.