Titles and abstracts

Online intercultural collaborations and virtual exchange programs have become common in EFL classes around the world, however research into the effectiveness of students’ participation in such programs is limited. Following up on previous research into students’ perceptions of these programs, this study compared student participation levels over two semesters to see whether experience led to students participating more. English-major students at a Japanese university participated in the IVEProject online intercultural collaboration project across both semesters of their third year. Participation logs of over 60 project participants in two cohorts were analyzed to ascertain whether performance and engagement improved in the second semester. This study reviewed the number of posts made, the number of words written, and the engagement level of the participants. This session details the quantitative findings of participants’ engagement in the IVEProject and will include a brief explanation of the IVEProject as well as examples of how students engaged with other participants. Then the study data and findings will be explained, with suggestions for how attendees can effectively incorporate IVEProject participation in their language courses to increase opportunities for interpersonal communications in English.

In Virtual Exchange (VE) programs, a truly memorable experience hinges on participants forming authentic connections rather than treating the exchange merely as a curricular obligation. Such bonds naturally arise when learners share common experiences and have the chance to express their values to one another. Consequently, VE designs must go beyond core tasks to embed ample opportunities for shared engagement. 

The IVEProject addresses this by integrating “side‑quests”—supplementary activities that foster relationship building. In the IVEProject these include a recipe book, an art gallery, a pets hall of fame, a world‑music radio station, and culture‑specific quizzes. By engaging with these side‑quests, participants create shared experiences that serve as starting points for discussions about the values that shape their perceptions of each activity. This approach ensures that VE participants move beyond merely posting about a given topic toward genuine intercultural dialogue and forming interpersonal connections with the other participants. 

Current educational processes have undergone a major transformation from taking place merely within classroom walls to beyond those very same classroom walls, indeed with no limitation to time and borders. This has occurred due to the utilization of technologies and learning platforms, such as via Virtual Exchange (VE). VE has become an increasingly significant innovation, providing opportunities for intercultural learning, collaborative projects, and language development without the need for physical mobility in particular in higher education contexts. In Indonesia, especially for English language learners who learn the language in a foreign language setting, VE has become one of the best alternative practices for learning that can provide learners with more exposure to students from various countries and cultural backgrounds. However, studies show that it is still in its infancy in Indonesian higher education contexts, and moreover there are few truly integrated VE that are relevant to curricula. This is due to the implementation of VE facing several challenges such as time-zone differences, unequal access to internet connection & motivational differences. Despite the challenges, VE remains a promising practice that fosters inclusive, equitable, and globally engaged higher education for Indonesia. This presentation will highlight the practices of VE in Indonesian higher education contexts, especially from the experience of the speaker and the pre-service EFL learners learners she works with, covering the reasons for inclusion of VE practices, implementation of VE, the benefits, challenges and opportunities experienced by the speaker and her students. This presentation will give a deeper insight on how VE, practiced in higher education EFL contexts, especially among pre-service teachers of an Indonesian university, has evolved and transformed EFL education for them. Keywords: Virtual exchange, practices, intercultural learning, EFL Learners & challenges and opportunities.

This presentation documents a virtual exchange between students in Ukraine and Japan.  The exchange was an optional class that focused on peace studies. Students learnt about how conflict is reported in the news and how to minimise bias through conflict sensitive journalism. The first teacher-led class introduced linguistic techniques used to report conflict.  In the second, student-led class, groups of students gathered in their own time to review and rewrite an article about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the third lesson, students presented their group work.  The research uses Bakhtinian concepts to analyse personal reflections written by students at the end of the course.  The analysis uses ontological engagement to assess student motivation, engagement with the course content and the meaning students ascribe to virtual exchanges. The analysis will highlight the challenges of successfully managing virtual exchanges and describe their potential to enable meaningful encounters and creative collaboration in a foreign language context.