Effect of Cooperative Learning Instruction and Blogs on Apprehension of Intercultural Communication

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of cooperative learning and blog instruction in a culturally mixed group on decreasing intercultural communication apprehension. The study was implemented in classrooms that include Lebanese and non-Lebanese participants at two universities in Lebanon. The study used a pretest–posttest experimental design, whereby five writing intact classes were randomly assigned to control and experimental conditions. One hundred two (N = 102) university students from diverse cultural backgrounds participated in the study. The Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension survey and the interview as a qualitative method were used to elicit data to validate or reject the main assumption of the study. The analysis of the emergent themes along with the comparison between results of the pre and post of the Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension proved the effectiveness of cooperative instruction through the use of blogs in decreasing the students’ intercultural communication apprehension.