COMMUNICATION IN A MULTICULTURAL VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC ACTION RESEARCH ON INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE

Intercultural communication has been traditionally taught alongside language courses, and understandably stress has been placed on linguistic skills or national cultures. Higher education institutes and global, transnational work life networks have created a real need for intercultural communication skills where using a foreign language is essential for successful communication. In higher education institutes courses are often organized virtually in a transnational environment that has an effect on the communication process. This article introduces research focusing on dimensions of intercultural communication competence in a virtual learning environment. An ethnographic action research approach was used to study a pilot virtual course shared between three Finnish universities of applied sciences and taught by the authors in spring 2012. The empirical data were gathered from learning diaries, forums and videos from the virtual course. By investigating the perceptions, attitudes and experiences of individuals of foreign origin and their Finnish peers participating in the course, we aimed to understand the existing capabilities as well as the capabilities needed for different agents to cooperate and work side by side in environments that are becoming even more transnational and multicultural. From our findings the whole culture of e-learning needs to be rethought, since some people view it as something in addition to their studies that encroaches on extra-curricular time. Results also indicate that attitudinal orientation is crucial in intercultural communication: this course was seemingly task-oriented, but ultimately it aimed at enhancing personal skills. As expected, acquiring new IT skills was seen as challenging but rewarding and learning the other party's native language was seen as an asset in being accepted to the surrounding community. The crucial role of time-orientation in nonverbal communication for resolving communicative conflicts was also illustrated and highlighted more in the virtual environment.