Research Project Proposal

Research Project Proposal - Head Researcher Dr. Bruno Marchal
1. Research project title: Multilingual resources in a digital learning environment: blended
practices
2. Conflict of interest of the research project: internationality of the project, by 3 countries, 2 in
Southeast Asia and a European country in research cooperation
3. Field of study: Digital technologies in Didactics
4. Keywords: resources, digital platform, autonomy, blended learning
5. Research site: https://classroom.google.com
6. Duration of research: 1.5 years [2019-2020]
7. Background and significance of the research problems: The purpose of this research is a
question arising from the observation of the students' practices regarding the provision of the resources
needed to carry out a task. We notice that in a multilingual context, some resources are more easily
identified than others and that some are abandoned for the benefit of others. The research will analyze
the use of multilingual digital resources on the side of students and teachers. The research will be
particularly attentive to the trust attributed to these resources (oriented knowledge and judgmental
devices). For this we will collect data on the expectations and requirements of content and format in the
light of a pluricultural dimension.
8. Research objectives: In this research, we will be interested in the intercultural dimension of
trust, in the relation to languages that it implies. It involves questioning the reasons for trust, the modes
and principles of calculation that underlie it, the forms and supports of trust and the system of signs
designed to inspire it. This amounts to analyzing the modalities of trust through material (sound, text,
video) and immaterial (recommendation, reputation) supports that embody and make it possible. Trust
will not be analyzed here from the perspective of an interpersonal relationship but as a cultural, linguistic
and cognitive construct. Moreover, the research wants to demonstrate the interest of the use of a device
arranging classes in class and the possibility of going beyond this physical space towards a space of virtual
course which is in continuation, in a hybridization context. Finally, the use of the Google Classroom
pedagogical side of the Google economic ecosystem, in a context where many universities and colleges in
Southeast Asia find interests there, gives many opportunities for transfer and synergies in ASEAN.
9. Expected outcome/benefits of the project: We are interested in analyzing practices in a hybrid
environment, including a face-to-face and a virtual classroom part for a learning module geared towards
the "communication officer" profession, in order to attempt a transfer of the three planned modules to
another regional environment in Southeast Asia. The first two of the three learning’s block constitute a
bilingual English / French foundation at the 3rd year level of French language license intended to be
transferred as such and the third learning’s block is more specific, depending on the regional cultural and
linguistic environment but which can be easily adapted to a different environment as we should do in
Thailand after experimentation and analysis in Vietnam.
So, we choose to experiment first in Vietnam for these reasons; The first reason is that the University of
Hue (Vietnam) already has a bilingual English / French course of communication management in its
program, which allows a quick adaptation of the presence and hybridization of the distance course, as
well as that a transferability for future courses in both languages that we could set up in our faculty at
Thammasat. The second reason is that we believe that in the not-too-distant future, bilingual programs
in foreign languages will become a standard for professional preparation. We think in particular of course
formulas geared towards the guiding profession in the tourism industry or aircrew in aviation, which exist
in a pluricultural and multilingual environment. Last but not least, as head and project manager, we
decided to share the different tasks of this project, in order to focus on its design and realization, its
theorization and its future implementation within our own Thammasat courses on Google Classroom
platform.