virtual-exchange
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- PaperLanguage Learning & Technology1 Jan 2026
Effects of virtual exchanges on learners’ affective and speaking outcomes
Kanako Tabuchi, Sho Kobayashi, Yuya Nakagawa, John Roberts
Three virtual exchanges between Japanese and Taiwanese high school students using Google Meet increased learners' willingness to communicate, international posture, and oral proficiency, and fostered partner-oriented communication. Text-mining of reflections revealed cross-cultural awareness in both proactive and passive learners, with proactive students reporting fulfillment and passive students expressing self-criticism. More frequent and longer virtual exchanges are recommended to enhance affective and speaking outcomes.
Original abstract
Interactive speaking performance—understood as dialogic communication through peer exchanges, discussions, and collaborative dialogues involving real-time negotiation of meaning—together with affective improvement remain pedagogically and technologically challenging in language learning. The current study examines the impact of virtual exchanges (VE) on Japanese high school EFL learners’ Willingness to Communicate (WTC), International Posture (IP), and oral proficiency. Three VEs between 36 Japanese and 28 Taiwanese high school students were conducted using Google Meet. Analyses of four sources of data (e.g., an eight-item questionnaire on WTC, a 24-item questionnaire on IP, open-ended reflection responses, and paired face-to-face speaking tests) revealed four benefits: enhancement of WTC, promotion of IP, improvement of speaking proficiency, and development of partner-oriented communication. Participant self-perceptions of VEs correlated with prior enjoyment of English classes through junior high school. Furthermore, reflection text-mining indicated that both proactive and passive groups of Japanese participants developed cross-cultural awareness, with proactive learners reporting a sense of fulfillment and passive learners expressing self-criticism about English communication. These findings indicate that greater frequency and duration of international VEs enhance WTC, IP, and oral proficiency while encouraging proactive behaviors in language learners.
- PaperLanguage Learning & Technology1 Jan 2026
Sentiment analysis in virtual exchange: Comparing lingua franca and L1-L2 synchronous interactions
Margarita Vinagre, Marta Giralt, Ciara Wigham
The study applied sentiment analysis to oral interactions in synchronous virtual exchanges, comparing groups using English as a lingua franca and those using both L1 and L2. It found that the L1-L2 group showed higher positive emotion and social cognitive processes despite lower L2 proficiency, suggesting bilingual interaction enhances socio-emotional outcomes.
Original abstract
This study aims to contribute to the growing body of literature examining the socio-emotional and cognitive trajectories of participants in Virtual Exchange (VE). While sentiment analysis has been applied to asynchronous VE interactions and post-exchange written data, its use in analyzing oral interactions within synchronous VE settings remains limited. This research analyzes data from a VE in which Spanish, French, and Irish undergraduates collaborated via videoconferencing. Student dyads interacted using either English as a lingua franca (Spain-France) or bilingually in English and Spanish (Spain-Ireland), and the study examines differences in socio-emotional responses between the two groups. Using LIWC (Linguistic Enquiry Word Count) and supported by content-based qualitative analysis, findings revealed significant increases in word count, positive emotion, affect, and social processes, alongside reductions in negative emotion and anxiety between initial and final interactions. Notably, Group 2 (the L1-L2 group), despite having students with lower proficiency levels in the target language, showed higher results in positive emotion, social, and cognitive processes. This occurred even though they produced fewer words in the L2, highlighting the potential of employing both the L1 and L2 to enhance socio-emotional outcomes in VE.
- PaperERIC — ELT & TESOL1 Jan 2025
Virtual Exchange for English Language Teaching (VEELT): Engagement and Inclusion Challenges
Yu-Hua Chen, Sofia Di Sarno-García, Marina Orsini-Jones, Karina Guadalupe Díaz Pedroza
This study examined behavioral, cognitive, and affective engagement in a virtual exchange involving 53 students from UK, Mexico, and Spain. Affective engagement was found to be central to successful participation, with strategies like multilingual introductions, peer mediation, and co-created content fostering more inclusive experiences.
Original abstract
This paper reports on a study exploring students' engagement with the project Virtual Exchange for English Language Teaching (VEELT). With the aim to provide insights into how we can better engage students, ensuring that future virtual exchanges are more inclusive, this paper focuses on the behavioural, cognitive, and affective engagement dimensions in an exchange utilising English as an International Language (EIL). VEELT involved 53 undergraduate and postgraduate students on English education courses in the UK, Mexico and Spain whose mother tongue was not English and who interacted both synchronously and asynchronously on topics relating to their ELT syllabus in their respective higher education (HE) institutions. The three distinctive features of this paper are: its focus on the three above mentioned engagement dimensions; the discussion relating to English as an International Language (EIL) in VEs and the involvement of students who were trained as e-mediators in Zoom breakout rooms in facilitating the VE task completion. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected to analyse the impact of the VE on the students' ELT learning journey and their levels of engagement with the VE. While the students' evaluation of their VEELT experience was positive on the whole, a number of engagement and inclusion challenges were identified. Findings indicate that affective engagement is central to successful participation in VEs, and that strategies such as multilingual introductions, peer mediation, and co-created content can foster more inclusive and equitable learning experiences.