INTEGRATING INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAMMES: A CASE STUDY INVOLVING A LANGUAGES FOR BUSINESS UNDERGRADUATE COURSE

The current drive towards the internationalization of educational programmes is leading to new pedagogical approaches that include some form of collaboration among students of diverse languages and cultures. The popularity of the Internet and the global availability of networked information sources together with computer mediated communication (CMC) have led to a strong demand for competence building and knowledge creation in language and intercultural learning using a learner- centred, collaborative approach. The paper presents initial findings of an Online International Learning (OIL) project entitled "Spanish for Business: Exploring Intercultural Communication". The project involves UK and French learners studying Business Spanish modules in their courses. The aim of the project is to offer students an international experience in the first year of their undergraduate courses through the development of effective international teams using the target language (Spanish) as the means of communication in order to raise their cultural awareness and understanding of different cultural perspectives. Presenting students' collaborative work and personal reflective assignments, this paper will address the benefits and challenges encountered by teachers and students during the online collaboration and examine their perceptions of the experience. The paper concludes with a discussion on the issues arising from the first year of the project's implementation and suggests strategies to overcome these issues.