This study reports on adolescents' experiences as exchange students in the Rotary Youth Exchange program. Based on a literature review and multivariate analysis of original survey data collected from 408 exchange students from 40 home countries that had spent a year in one out of 37 destination countries, the study concludes that students'…

Several studies on Virtual Exchange (VE) have highlighted positive learning experiences, increases in technological pedagogical and content skills (TPACK) and foreign language (FL) competence. However, most VE research to date use qualitative or descriptive case-studies of how VEs have been implemented, and what "might" have worked. In…

With increasing global interconnectivity, effective cross-cultural interaction has become crucial for global citizens. However, learners in non-English speaking countries often lack practical English communicative skills and opportunities for authentic language practice. This study explores the effectiveness of a virtual exchange programme in…

Affordance refers to the opportunity available to a learning activity. Taking affordance as a theoretical and analytical construct, this exploratory study investigates learners' attitudes and the opportunities WeChat may provide for Chinese cultural knowledge (CCK) learning. The aim is to find out the potential new affordances and compare learners…

This study reports on how the affordances of the WebEx platform were used as multimodality resources during the negotiation of meaning by participants engaged in an English/Spanish eTandem video-conferencing exchange. The exchange involved five dyads of university students with an intermediate level of language proficiency. A total of seven tasks…

Through qualitative research, which involved qualitative interviews and focus group meetings with members of four student teams, we identified a number of barriers to the development of cohesiveness in teams of local and international exchange (IE) students, who were undertaking service-learning (SL) together. Lack of cohesiveness in such teams…

This study examines the influence of pre-departure proficiency on English as a second language (L2) oral development after a semester studying abroad in two distinct learning contexts. The data analysed were collected from tertiary level students (N = 33) who undertook an ERASMUS exchange semester in a European country where English was either the…

In this study, we examined the use of compliments, self-praise, and self-denigration, as exchanged among nonnative English users. This was part of participation in an online cross-cultural exchange project (Ibunka 2019), which involved learners from six countries (Algeria, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, and the Netherlands). The aim of the…

The present study investigates the effects of two subsequent learning contexts, formal instruction (FI) at home and a 3-month stay abroad (SA), on vocabulary acquisition in English as a foreign language (EFL) writing and speaking. Data were collected from 30 Catalan/Spanish learners of English before and after each learning period using a written…

The goal of this short-form article is to provide an overview of the opportunities and benefits for faculty and students who are considering the implementation of Virtual Exchange (VE) learning experiences to globalize the curriculum and their classrooms. The essay describes the benefits of students developing global competence, improving…

The lack of exchange between international students and host nationals in Japan has long been a pressing issue, yet very little progress has been made to rectify this situation. In this study, we examined this issue by focusing on how international students in Japan perceive cultural contact with their host and home culture members during their…

This study examined how longitudinal interaction impacts the development of second language (L2) oral proficiency in relation to learners' different experience and proficiency levels. Japanese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) participated in weekly conversation exchanges with native speakers (NSs) in the USA via videoconferencing…

Given current trends in international education, many institutions of higher education in the United States and elsewhere seek to prepare students for life and careers in a globalized world. For many institutions, this means internationalizing curriculum and campus, increasing educational exchange opportunities (for both domestic and international…

This study showcases an International Learning Exchange (ILE) program between North Korean (NK) refugee students in South Korea and American university students from the US. ILE programs connect two or more linguistic/ cultural groups for intercultural awareness, which provide authentic communicative environments. However, the prevalent use of…

This chapter presents how I integrated Virtual Exchange (VE) programmes delivered by Soliya in two courses at an international undergraduate liberal arts and sciences college. In both cases the VE programme was fully integrated in the courses as a graded element. The students of beginner Italian participated in the four-week long Connect Express.…