ERIC Number: ED600939
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Dec
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
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Available Date: N/A
Virtual Exchange Supporting Language and Intercultural Development: Students' Perceptions
Research-publishing.net, Paper presented at the EUROCALL 2019 Conference (27th, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, Aug 28-31, 2019)
Foreign Language (FL) classrooms should be places where, at a minimum, communication is taking place in the foreign language being taught and intercultural understanding is also being developed. However, in countries where the majority of students are from a single cultural background, it is often difficult to keep students on-task if they do not have to use the language they are studying. Virtual Exchange (VE) ensures students interact with their online peers in the FL, as it becomes the lingua-franca. However, student attitudes toward such VE in the FL classroom are still not fully understood. This paper researches students' attitudes toward one VE, the International Virtual Exchange Project (IVEProject). Each iteration of the IVEProject is for eight weeks. Students interact asynchronously on Moodle forums in text, audio, and video. More than 15,000 students from 15 countries have participated in at least one of the VE carried out since 2016. Online surveys are carried out at the end of each exchange. Results suggest students have an overall positive attitude toward incorporating VE into FL and intercultural classes. [For the complete proceedings, see ED600837.]
Descriptors: Second Language Instruction, Learner Engagement, Interaction, Peer Relationship, Computer Mediated Communication, Student Attitudes, Asynchronous Communication, Program Effectiveness, Integrated Learning Systems, International Cooperation, Foreign Countries, Cultural Awareness
Research-publishing.net. La Grange des Noyes, 25110 Voillans, France. e-mail: info@research-publishing.net; Web site: http://research-publishing.net
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
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Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Japan; Colombia
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Author Affiliations: N/A