Accepting the fact that culture and language are interrelated in second language learning (SLL), the Web sites should be designed to integrate with the cultural aspects. Yet many SLL Web sites fail to integrate with the cultural aspects and/or focus on language acquisition only.This study identified three issues: 1) anthropologists' cultural models mostly adopted in cross-cultural Web user interface have been superficially used; 2) Web designers deal with culture as a fixed one which needs to be modeled into interface design elements, so 3) there is a need for a communication framework between educators and design practitioners, which can be utilized in Web design processes. This paper discusses what anthropology can contribute to language learning, mediated through Web design processes and suggests a cultural user experience framework for Web-based SLL by presenting an exemplary matrix.To evaluate the effectiveness of the framework, the key stakeholders (learners, teachers and designers) participated in a case scenario-based evaluation. The result shows a high possibility that the framework can enhance the effective communication and collaboration for the cultural integration.Keywords: cultural integration; cultural usability; second language learning; user interface;
Web based language learning
IntroductionLanguage and culture are dimensions of each other that are interrelated and inseparable (Fantini, 1997;Pethő, 2005). Language and culture reflect and affect how individuals learn (Swierczek & Bechter, 2008). This principle is often ignored in Web-based second language learning (SLL). It has been agreed that Web technologies support quality of SLL by enhancing person-to-person interaction as well as person-to-interface interaction by adopting various communication tools (synchronous and asynchronous) (Son, 2008). Yet these communication technologies have been used to focus on language acquisition only rather than the cultural integration (Massey et al., 2001). Many SLL Web sites have been focusing on individual learners' progressive language acquisition and self-directed learning activities without or lack of the cultural integration (Altstaedter, 2009;Shih, 2005).Although some Web sites provide cultural information and materials, these are regarded as a merely supplementary or less interacting with the language learning (Kamppuri, Tedre & Tukiainen, 2006). When a SLL Web site is built with a template which has been developed with a specific culture and set of values, the template often restricts the flexibility and adaptability of a certain culture. Thus, it is seen that some graphical elements such as symbols and images are usually adopted to represent cultural characteristics. As Richardson and Smith (2007) From a perspective of Web design processes, however, anthropologists' cultural models are very complex to be embedded in interface design elements. To resolve this limitation, researchers claimed that the cultural models need to be integrated into the design process (i.e.Jagne & Smith- Atakan, ...