Language teachers’ pathways towards a shared intercultural stance via telecollaboration

P. 13–35.

Sardegna V. G., Parnami S., Dugartsyrenova V.

This chapter examines how preservice foreign language (FL) teachers co-constructed and negotiated their intercultural stance in and through interaction with peers during a 5-week multicultural text-based telecollaboration project in English. A sequential sociolinguistic case-study analysis of four participants’ discourse revealed differences in how they engaged in stancetaking by positioning themselves as cultural representatives, evaluating cultural knowledge, and establishing interpersonal alignment. The findings indicated that the telecollaboration afforded participants a space to apply skills and attitudes denoting intercultural communicative competence and that, by applying these skills, participants influenced their own and others’ pathways towards a shared intercultural stance. Based on the findings, the chapter highlights the role of intercultural mediators in fostering deeper cultural discussions and concludes with recommendations for enhancing intercultural telecollaboration projects in FL teacher education programs.

Keywords: foreign language, telecollaboration, intercultural competence, teacher education, Stancetaking

In book

(Mis)Understandings in Multicultural Communication: Implications for Second Language Classrooms and Professional Settings

Switzerland: Springer, 2026.