Analysis of the virtual community of practice “Meet my class” to foster bilingualism and interculturality during the Covid-19 confinement

Abstract

Educational demands of international communities have brought up the importance of learning new alternatives of communication and collaboration, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, establishing bilingualism and plurilingualism as a key starting point to tackle these educational challenges. This paper seeks to recognise and analyze the experiences of a group of seventeen teachers from different continents and their students in a virtual community of practice “Meet my class”, created as a result of the pandemic lockdown and its restricted opportunities to have real communication practicing in ESL and EFL environments in different contexts and cultures. Data sources included a questionnaire, interviews and observing participants' interactions in the CoP with an active and meaningful involvement. The research design is based on a case study within a qualitative approach. Findings reveal the importance of collaborative environments for professional development, reasons to join a virtual CoP and its challenges, furthermore, interculturality as an important theoretical construct to foster bilingual development worldwide, it encourages a deep understanding of diversity within a global society having in mind the 21st century required educational skills.