Developing Relational Empathy in Virtual Ethnographic Intercultural Teaching
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Yingli Zhou
Yingli Zhou is an associate professor in the Department of English, China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing, China. Her teaching and research areas are virtual ethnographic intercultural teaching, African American studies and the pedagogy of empathy. She is a member of the International Ethnic Literature Committee of Chinese and Foreign Language and Culture Comparison Institute and a member of the Specialized Committee on World Literature and Literary Theory. She is also a member of the National Social Science Foundation major project “Research on Cultural Community in American Ethnic Literature” (Project number: 21&ZD281) led by Professor Anfeng Sheng, Foreign Language Department, Tsinghua University.
Carolyn Calloway-Thomas is a professor and director of Graduate Studies in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Indiana University Bloomington, USA. She is an Intercultural Communication (ICC) Advisory Expert on the World Council for Intercultural and Global Competence; a past president of the World Communication Association; a recipient of “Top 25 Outstanding Women Listeners in the World for 2023” awards (Global Listening Centre). She is the author of
Empathy in the Global World: An Intercultural Perspective ; and coauthor ofIntercultural Communication: A Text With Readings and Intercultural Communication: Roots and Routes , as well as coeditor ofDr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Sermonic Power of Public Discourse . She is also coauthoring a forthcoming book titledSpeak Out . Her teaching and research areas are communication in Black America, empathy and conflict, interracial/intercultural communication, civic engagement, and the pedagogy of empathy.Gaowei Li is a graduate student at the University of Hong Kong. His study and research areas are AI ethics and governance, intercultural communication and digital humanities.
Xueyao Zhang is a postdoctoral research fellow at the School of International Studies, Communication University of China. She received a doctoral degree in literature from the School of Foreign Studies of the University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China. Her research focuses on intercultural communication. She has published papers in journals including the
Journal of Advertising and Asia Pacific Education Review .
Abstract
Conceptualizations of empathy have been most fully developed in a variety of fields in recent years. Many approaches to empathy dwell on the cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects, the intra-psychic processes that cause one to feel emotions more like those of another, rather than the interpersonal functions of empathy, which may be influenced by the variables during the communication process. Therefore, this study designed and implemented a virtual ethnographic intercultural project between Chinese and American university students with WeChat as the main social medium. The whole process included three phases: exploring the unique cultural experiences of Chinese and American students, seeking an empathy based on commonality and seeking a relational empathy, a form of harmonization and integration through interactive and continuous intercultural dialogues. During the process, the method of discourse-centered online ethnography (DCOE) was employed, which involved systematic observation and interaction with WeChat users. We used the collective data to analyze how relational empathy was developed through understanding cultural differences, seeking similarities, and creating a third culture by engaging students in a substantial and dynamic natural and interactive setting. The study shows that the most challenging process to nurture relational empathy is to move from Phases One and Two to Phase Three, during which, some strategies to build relational empathy need to be taught and practiced in a specific cultural setting. In conclusion, virtual ethnographic intercultural teaching is an effective approach to offer students a long-term intercultural dialogue and insight into developing shared meaning, or dynamic relational empathy with culturally different others.
About the authors
Yingli Zhou is an associate professor in the Department of English, China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing, China. Her teaching and research areas are virtual ethnographic intercultural teaching, African American studies and the pedagogy of empathy. She is a member of the International Ethnic Literature Committee of Chinese and Foreign Language and Culture Comparison Institute and a member of the Specialized Committee on World Literature and Literary Theory. She is also a member of the National Social Science Foundation major project “Research on Cultural Community in American Ethnic Literature” (Project number: 21&ZD281) led by Professor Anfeng Sheng, Foreign Language Department, Tsinghua University.
Carolyn Calloway-Thomas is a professor and director of Graduate Studies in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Indiana University Bloomington, USA. She is an Intercultural Communication (ICC) Advisory Expert on the World Council for Intercultural and Global Competence; a past president of the World Communication Association; a recipient of “Top 25 Outstanding Women Listeners in the World for 2023” awards (Global Listening Centre). She is the author of Empathy in the Global World: An Intercultural Perspective; and coauthor of Intercultural Communication: A Text With Readings and Intercultural Communication: Roots and Routes, as well as coeditor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Sermonic Power of Public Discourse. She is also coauthoring a forthcoming book titled Speak Out. Her teaching and research areas are communication in Black America, empathy and conflict, interracial/intercultural communication, civic engagement, and the pedagogy of empathy.
Gaowei Li is a graduate student at the University of Hong Kong. His study and research areas are AI ethics and governance, intercultural communication and digital humanities.
Xueyao Zhang is a postdoctoral research fellow at the School of International Studies, Communication University of China. She received a doctoral degree in literature from the School of Foreign Studies of the University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China. Her research focuses on intercultural communication. She has published papers in journals including the Journal of Advertising and Asia Pacific Education Review.
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© 2025 BFSU, FLTRP, Walter de Gruyter, Cultural and Education Section British Embassy
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Advancing CLIL Approaches in EMI Settings Through International Collaboration Peter I. De Costa, Douglas Hartman, Curtis Green-Eneix & D. Philip Montgomery
- Advancing CLIL Approaches in EMI Settings Through International Collaboration: An Introduction
- EMI and CLIL in Kazakhstani Higher Education: Current Policies and Future Possibilities
- Forging CLIL Teacher Identities in Kazakhstan: Developmental Pathways of Two University Teachers
- Curators and Mediators of Language, Content, Pedagogy, and Technology: Teachers’ Expanding Roles in Fully-Online CLIL Contexts
- Professional Vulnerability in Adopting a CLIL Pedagogy at a Neoliberal Restructured University in Kazakhstan
- Reframing the Cultivation Metaphor in Education by Reflecting on CLIL Professional Development Through a Forest Gardening Lens
- Commentary
- English for Specific Purposes
- Workplace English Language Needs for Medical Students in China Learning and Using English as Non-Native Speakers
- Cross-Cultural Communication
- Developing Relational Empathy in Virtual Ethnographic Intercultural Teaching
- Chinese Abstracts
- Chinese Abstracts
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Advancing CLIL Approaches in EMI Settings Through International Collaboration Peter I. De Costa, Douglas Hartman, Curtis Green-Eneix & D. Philip Montgomery
- Advancing CLIL Approaches in EMI Settings Through International Collaboration: An Introduction
- EMI and CLIL in Kazakhstani Higher Education: Current Policies and Future Possibilities
- Forging CLIL Teacher Identities in Kazakhstan: Developmental Pathways of Two University Teachers
- Curators and Mediators of Language, Content, Pedagogy, and Technology: Teachers’ Expanding Roles in Fully-Online CLIL Contexts
- Professional Vulnerability in Adopting a CLIL Pedagogy at a Neoliberal Restructured University in Kazakhstan
- Reframing the Cultivation Metaphor in Education by Reflecting on CLIL Professional Development Through a Forest Gardening Lens
- Commentary
- English for Specific Purposes
- Workplace English Language Needs for Medical Students in China Learning and Using English as Non-Native Speakers
- Cross-Cultural Communication
- Developing Relational Empathy in Virtual Ethnographic Intercultural Teaching
- Chinese Abstracts
- Chinese Abstracts
