Meryem Büşra ÜNSAL
Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University, Turkey
Meryem Büşra ÜNSAL is the academic English coordinator at Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University and an EAP/ESP instructor there for 8 years. Having written an MA thesis in the area of intercultural communication and the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF), she collaborated in various COIL projects along with other online intercultural exchange communities via various other platforms.
“COIL helps both us, English language instructors, and our students to collaborate in academic settings, providing us the opportunity to practice intercultural communication and develop intercultural communicative competence in a century when the intercultural communication and having a global understanding is crucial.”
Project #1 Information
Project Name: Persuading audiences to act on public policy issues; A Collaborative Argument Project
Partner: Mark Hussey, Front Range Community College (United States)
Project Length: 3 months
Modality: Synchronous & Asynchronous
Technology Tools Utilized: Zoom
Project Summary:
During the project, political science and business students from FSMVU and students from FRCC collaborated on writing papers and conducting a panel discussion on the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Learning Outcomes:
- Students practiced collaboration with an international student group from different nationalities.
- Students worked on a collaborative writing task, experiencing task distribution with an international audience.
Project #2 Information
Project Name: Intercultural Communication and Stereotypes
Partner: Nitin Dechka, Guelph-Humber University (Canada); Dalal Al- Khatri, University of Soltan Qaboos (Oman)
Project Length: 3 months
Modality: Synchronous & Asynchronous
Technology Tools Utilized: Zoom, Padlet, YouTube
Project Summary:
In this project, students from Türkiye, Canada and Oman collaborated on intercultural communication with an emphasis on cultural differences in intercultural communication. They recorded videos, panels, discussions and comments on both their and their friends’ culture.
Learning Outcomes:
- Explores their own cultural experiences (for example of bias, stereotypes, popular cultures).
- Explores how cultural values and beliefs can impede intercultural communication and collaboration.