Communication in virtual work: Towards a reliable framework for piloting training modules

7 pages•Published: January 6, 2018

Penny MacDonald, Carmen Pérez-Sabater and Begoña Montero-Fleta

Abstract

Improving the employability of graduates and professionals is the main aim of the European project CoMoViWo, a project which strives to address linguistic, virtual communication and intercultural challenges in global work contexts. To this end, the design and development of a series of intensive modules to improve communication in virtual and mobile contexts in the workplace is the objective of this three-year research and development project. To validate these modules, CoMoViWo has sought to establish a framework for the subsequent piloting of the materials. The present paper is delivered at the end of the third year of the project, and reports on the process of creating a questionnaire, a useful tool to pilot the communication learning modules. The rationale involved in the design and implementation of the questionnaire is discussed. The grid was designed following the recommendations proposed in several "Quality Guidelines” publications during recent years (see, for example, Lasnier et al., 2000). These criteria involve aspects such as transparency, reliability, integrity, practicality, attractiveness, flexibility, awareness and generativeness. The questionnaire was administered to the students to get feedback on the learning modules and their satisfaction with the modules. Although the students were not necessarily in a position to address the validity of the pedagogical aims of the input, their feedback on the structure, content, format and exercises/tasks, and their engagement with the platform and activities provided important data on their feasibility. The analysis of the results obtained indicate that the process of piloting the modules is an essential part of any materials elaboration project and vital for giving relevant feedback for the final stage of materials development. This confirms the validation of the grid devised and confirms the considerable relevance of the piloting process.

Keyphrases: intercultural communication, piloting, training modules, virtual communication, workplace language

In: Alejandro Curado (editor). LSP in Multi-disciplinary contexts of Teaching and Research. Papers from the 16th International AELFE Conference, vol 3, pages 131-137.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/wXX7
	https://doi.org/10.29007/k1jz

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{AELFE2017:Communication_virtual_work_Towards,
  author    = {Penny MacDonald and Carmen Pérez-Sabater and Begoña Montero-Fleta},
  title     = {Communication in virtual  work:  Towards  a  reliable  framework  for  piloting training modules},
  booktitle = {LSP in Multi-disciplinary contexts of Teaching and Research. Papers from the 16th International AELFE Conference},
  editor    = {Alejandro Curado},
  series    = {EPiC Series in Language and Linguistics},
  volume    = {3},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2398-5283},
  url       = {/publications/paper/wXX7},
  doi       = {10.29007/k1jz},
  pages     = {131-137},
  year      = {2018}}

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