Is (inter)cultural competence accessible? Assessing for fluency

Abstract

Globalization and the digitalization of our lives have made it impossible to avoid (inter)cultural encounters. In the traditional classroom environment, students are expected to juggle a myriad of choices almost simultaneously. Factors like grammar, pronunciation, word choice, etc. are all important assessment factors to consider when looking at the accuracy of the students’ target language performance. However this changes considerably in Virtual Exchange (VE) courses with a primary goal of fluency. In this case, the assessment should take into account social cues, silence, turn taking, correction, reactions to new ideas, signal words, and speaker confidence, among others. In this article, we would like to share our ideas of how we assess a fluency course using a modified version of Byram’s (1997) model for teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence and provide an example of a course design that was particularly successful, in which students worked together to complete a poster about the 100-year anniversary of the Bauhaus School. Additionally, to create an environment that promotes learner autonomy and helps students fully experience empathy, understanding, and tolerance while collaborating, a portfolio of tasks and self-assessment journals were used.