Page 109 - Cyberculture and New Media

100 The Challenge of Intercultural Electronic Learning
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The globalisation of online learning has resulted in an increasing
number of cross-cultural distance learning projects in which English has a
dominant position as a communication lingua franca. The latter is a matter of
great concern for the future of virtual learning in the world: together with the
expansion of Western technologies and the distribution of ELF in global
distance learning, there appears a kind of cultural imperialism of the West as
nearly 60 % of all virtual education in the world today is being conducted in
English.
Nevertheless, the problem of ELF in global e-learning has been
insufficiently studied, whereas there is a lot of serious research on ELF in
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non-virtual settings.

2. Background
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According to Samovar, Porter, and Stefani, language is a reflection
of how we perceive the world surrounding us.

Any transformation of the language influences our basic
values and assumptions, that is, our culture, defined as the
collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the
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members of one group or category of people from another.

Therefore, any attempt to influence culture inevitably affects
language, which means that language is deeply rooted in culture and the latter
has a profound impact on language. To underline such a close
interrelationship between them both, in 1994, Michael Agar introduced a
concept of linguaculture.
The present paper is based on the following cross-cultural
oppositions:
a) dichotomy of West/East: G.Hofstede stated that some essential
patterns of thinking, feeling, acting and communication significantly differ in
various cultures. Eastern cultures (e.g. China, Japan, Thailand) are
collectivist, with a strong sense of community, traditionally focused on roles,
status and relationships: the interests of others have a priority;
communication is primarily concerned with maintaining group harmony (a
“loss of face” phenomenon). Whereas the Western are individuum-centred,
logical, rational, independent, direct and success-oriented. Their ethics are
based on professionalism and personal achievements (e.g. USA, Germany,
England).
b) high versus low context theory: E.Hall’s theory is based on the
juxtaposition of cultural context (West versus East), which is directly related
to their contrasting conversational practices: Western cultures are “speaking”
communities: in the West, language is a means to find and convey
information, which is why Westerners initiate discussions more often than