Investigating the Role of Virtual Communities in Shaping EFL Learners’ Intercultural Identity

Abstract

Virtual online communities have in many ways changed the socialization experience of our 21st century learners. As learners get immersed in virtual communities they develop higher levels of competences related to intercultural communication which later lead them to develop their intercultural identity, an identity that will by time become an omnipresent force within their social lives .This study is an attempt to examine the views of the participants regarding the connectedness of virtual communities and their identity formation process. The methodology employed in this study is a mixed method that involved 15 master one and two EFL learners of language and communication stream who participated in three different data collection tools; questionnaire ,experiment and interview all of which took place in virtual online realms. Participants shared how virtual communities develop their intercultural competences , influence their intercultural identity and help them adapt to certain cultural differences therefore; our study conclude that virtual communities are considered as a powerful tool through which our participants can get a wide range of benefits and develop their abilities to understand people cross and beyond all types of cultural barriers. Virtual communities seem to be a predominant tool that helps individuals become more culturally aware and develop some very crucial attitudes which later help them negotiate an identity that extends the cultural boundaries and explores new whole life patterns.