The affordances of an intercultural e-portfolio

Abstract

This paper explores teachers’ perceptions of the affordances of an e-portfolio of intercultural competence (EPIC). The EPIC was implemented during an 8-week intervention carried out in a Norwegian lower secondary school. Data were collected from various sources (e.g., learners’ texts, focus group interviews), but this paper draws on the data from three individual teacher interviews conducted in the spring semester 2018. This study extends our understanding of the way an e-portfolio can be integrated into the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom as a tool for promoting intercultural competence. The findings underscore the affordances of the e-portfolio to track the learners’ reflections on their own complex selves and others; moreover, the use of the e-portfolio enabled the teachers to create flexible and varied learning spaces, which in turn provided opportunities for intercultural language learning. Pedagogical implications are provided on how foreign language (FL) teachers might support intercultural competence development through the use of the e-portfolio.