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ERIC Number: EJ999775
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Dec
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1175-8708
EISSN: N/A
Discussing Culturally Relevant Books Online: A Cross-Cultural Blogging Project
Lee, Hsiao-Chien; Gilles, Carol
English Teaching: Practice and Critique, v11 n4 p161-177 Dec 2012
This article examines the process and results of a two-year cross-cultural blogging project conducted between American fifth-graders (15 students) and Taiwanese tenth-graders (23 students). The two groups of students used a blog to correspond with each other and share their reading responses of culturally relevant picture books. The goal of the project was to provide the students with opportunities to appreciate reading texts relevant to their cultural experiences, while using the blog to engage in authentic conversations with and reflect on the experiences of people from another culture. Data were collected from multiple sources, including pre-project surveys, students' blog entries, students' retrospective interviews, and the researchers' field notes. Data analysis helped answer the research questions: What were the students' learning experiences, and what factors helped form the experiences? The findings suggest that students gained deeper understandings of another culture, as well as the texts, as they were offered opportunities to communicate authentically with people of another culture. They also displayed more confidence and greater critical thinking skills when discussing culturally relevant picture books. (Contains 2 tables, 4 figures, and 4 footnotes.)
Wilf Malcolm Institute for Educational Research, University of Waikato. PB 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand. Tel: +64-7-858-5171; Fax: +64-7-838-4712; e-mail: wmier@waikato.ac.nz; Web site: http://education.waikato.ac.nz/research/journal/index.php?id=1
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education; Grade 10; Grade 5
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A