Developing Intercultural Awareness Through Webquest

Proceedings of CLaSIC 2012

USING WEBQUEST
TO DEVELOP INTERCULTURAL AWARENESS:
A MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT FOR COMMUNICATION
CLASS IN THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
Yudi Setyaningsih
([e-mail])
Universitas Ma Chung, Malang, Indonesia

Abstract
Intercultural awareness in communication is important so as to bridge communication gaps between different cultures. In this era of globalization where there are interdependences caused by changes in global economies and communication technology, such awareness is badly needed when one enters an international workplace with employees coming from various countries. This article discusses the importance of Intercultural awareness for students in the English
Department of Universitas Ma Chung where there are two concentrations: Public Relations and
Tourism. These students are prepared to meet the real world situation as soon as they graduate from the university. As technology becomes more available in classroom, it is increasingly important that teachers be comfortable with the use of technology. WebQuest, an Internet-based inquiry program, is one of technology usages designed to be employed in the classroom. Using
WebQuest for students in the communication classroom is hoped to be one of the best ways to increase their Intercultural awareness later when they enter the job’s world. A small research is conducted to support students’ perceptions on the importance of Intercultural awareness.

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Introduction

We are now living in the global world where there are technological advances, international media, the Internet, international cooperation, and so on and so forth…as there are no boundaries between nations and people are connected one to another.
Today’s citizen must be able to communicate with other people from different cultural backgrounds.The world is a much smaller place now than it ever was. ‘Global village’,
‘globalization’ and ‘global markets’ are the new words found