Virtual Reality for Telecollaboration Among Teachers of an Additional Language: Insights from the Multimodal (Inter)action Analysis

Abstract

Dooly (2017, p. 169) defines telecollaboration in education as “the use of computer and/or digital communication tools to promote learning through social interaction and collaboration, thus moving the learning process beyond the physical boundaries of classrooms.” As digital communication technologies advance, newer and more sophisticated cutting-edge ICT tools are being used for telecollaboration, including virtual reality (VR). Researchers have applied different models and approaches of multimodal analysis to understand the specific features of VR on students' language learning (Dubovi, 2022; Friend & Mills, 2021) and intercultural communication (Rustam, et al., 2020). Nevertheless, very little has been done to look into language teacher telecollaboration via VR technologies. This present study recruited student teachers of an additional language (LX) (Dewaele, 2017) from different geographical locations and cultural backgrounds to participate in a project aiming at cultivating the participants' critical views on LX teaching and intercultural communication skills. The participants interacted and discussed LX teaching/learning issues in VR environments. Their interactions were video recorded and analyzed. By applying Multimodal (inter)action Analysis (MIA) (Norris, 2014) as the analytical framework, this study systematically unpacked the thematical saliencies and significant moments of the participants' intercultural interaction in the three VR meetings. Based on the findings, suggestions and caveats for future designing and researching intercultural telecollaboration in VR environments are provided.