EFL students' telecollaborative journey to intercultural intelligence: Transformative engagement in classroom reflections

This study investigates the journey of English as Foreign Language students towards intercultural intelligence through structured classroom reflections collected during telecollaboration between an Omani university and an American university. Employing an integrated theoretical framework and a qualitative descriptive methodology, the study aimed to explore the development of intercultural intelligence on a small-scale by analysing Omani students' classroom reflections across three phases outlining the development in their telecollaborative experiences. Reflections collected during the first phase revealed curiosity, openness, and motivation among the participants despite limited prior intercultural exposure. In the second phase, students' reflections focused on visible and mixed cultural components, indicating progress from basic intercultural awareness to intercultural competence. Omani students' reflections collected during the third phase prioritised invisible cultural components that underlay the behaviours and values of their American counterparts. The study's developmental and interpretive approach showed progress in participants' psychological orientation from observing differences to practicing reflective interaction and developing empathy towards the other. The results indicated that virtual intercultural interaction reshaped participants' affective traits and cognitive schemata and facilitated their navigation of submerged levels in Hall's (1976) ‘Cultural Iceberg Model’. The study also suggested that, despite progression through intercultural awareness, competence, and intelligence, some instances of cultural framing and stereotyping were observed among participants, highlighting the need for deeper pedagogical engagement with intercultural conflict dynamics in future studies. • EFL learners navigate telecollaboration to develop intercultural intelligence. • Curiosity and openness foster learners' shift from awareness to competence. • Collaborative initiatives expose learners to visible and hybrid cultural elements. • Transformative reflections reveal deeper insight into hidden cultural aspects. • Telecollaboration helps learners move from surface views to deep cultural insight.