Volume 4, Issue 1 April 2021, pp. 75–89 
Special Issue Articles
Shaping the teaching and learning of intercultural communication through virtual mobility
Theresa Catalano 
1, Andrea Muñoz Barriga 2
1 University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA 
2 Universidad de La Salle, COLOMBIA
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29140/ice.v4n1.443
Abstract
The globally mobile reality of today’s world has made the field of intercultural communication increasingly relevant as people more often find themselves in intercultural situations. As a result, language teachers must be more prepared to work in intercultural contexts, and to teach their own students how to communicate across differences in intercultural situations both physically and virtually. The present paper examines this special issue’s topic of physical and virtual mobility and intercultural competence through the lens of teacher education. Using narrative inquiry, two teacher educators in very different geographic and socio-economic contexts (US and Colombia) explore their own attempts at developing intercultural communication in teacher learners through a WhatsApp pen pal exchange project in their intercultural communication classes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings reveal different ways in which virtual mobility and other affordances of WhatsApp can be harnessed to achieve various aims of intercultural education, but also how activities such as the pen pal exchange can be improved in order to align more with current theories of intercultural communication.
Copyright
© Theresa Catalano, Andrea Muñoz Barriga
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Suggested citation
Catalano, T., & Muñoz Barriga, A. (2021). Shaping the teaching and learning of intercultural communication through virtual mobility. Intercultural Communication Education, 4(1), 75–89. https://doi.org/10.29140/ice.v4n1.443
Related Articles:
EFL learners' peer negotiations and attitudes in mobile-assisted collaborative writing
Shiou-Wen Yeh, Cheng-Ting Chen
Language Education & Assessment Published: 30 April, 2019, Volume 2(1), 41–56.
Interculturality as collaborative identity management in language education
Claudia Borghetti
Intercultural Communication Education Published: 30 April, 2019, Volume 2(1), 20–38.
Washback of ACTFL's Integrated Performance Assessment in an intensive summer language program at the tertiary level
Jason Martel
Language Education & Assessment Published: 31 August, 2019, Volume 2(2), 57–69.
Critical intercultural communication education: cultural analysis and pedagogical applications
Sofia A. Koutlaki, Zohreh R. Eslami
Intercultural Communication Education Published: 29 December, 2018, Volume 1(3), 100–109.
L2 motivation in ESP and EGP courses: An investigation of L2 motivational selves among learners of English in Saudi Arabia
Aser Nazzal K. Altalib
Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics Published: 30 April, 2019, Volume 2(1), 1–16.
Advancing intercultural learning in world language education: Recent developments in pre-service teacher education in the U.S.
Paula Garrett-Rucks
Intercultural Communication Education Published: 29 December, 2018, Volume 1(3), 110–122.
An investigation of learners' use of CAN and COULD
Lauren Whitty
Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics Published: 30 April, 2019, Volume 2(1), 32–46.
Integrating multimodal technologies with VARK strategies for learning and teaching EFL presentation: An investigation into learners' achievements and perceptions of the learning process
Yow-jyy Joyce Lee
Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics Published: 30 April, 2019, Volume 2(1), 17–31.
Teaching pragmatics: Nonnative-speaker teachers' knowledge, beliefs and reported practices
Christine Savvidou, Maria Economidou-Kogetsidis
Intercultural Communication Education Published: 30 April, 2019, Volume 2(1), 39–58.
Factors affecting immigrants' host country language proficiency: Focusing on the differences between migrant workers and marriage-migrant women in South Korea
In Young Yang, Seongseog Park, Sungjun Lee, Byeonggon Min
Migration and Language Education Published: 30 April, 2020, Volume 1(1), 14–30.
