1. The International Virtual Exchange Project and its effect on cultural awareness
Overview
Virtual Exchange (VE) has many benefits for foreign language teachers and their students but it is still not easily accessible to the mainstream. Students in EFL classrooms often have few opportunities to interact with other users of English. VE gives them virtual mobility, enabling them to participate in a global community. The large scale VE we are carrying out includes over 1500 students from 5 countries. It is carried out on a Moodle platform. Students interact online in English as a lingua franca. Exchanges are carried out over 8 week periods. It is sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Education. The importance and learning of inter-cultural communication to participants should be obvious however we wanted to gauge changes in students’ cultural sensitivity to hopefully shed more light on whether VE boosts this learning.
The International Virtual Exchange
The Study
Pre- and Post-surveys were carried out with 303 students completing both surveys. The survey intended to discover if there were any changes in students’ cultural awareness due to participation in the exchange. A 6 point Likert scale was used.
Outcomes from the exchange
Learner involvement - Increased input and output
Motivation - target language is the principal medium hence a need to use the TL
Cultural acclimatization - VE doesn't simulate "real cultural understanding" but helps prepare for it.
Personal development - presents positive learner reflection opportunities. Broadens horizons.
Exchange History
Colombia
2015 Pilot 1 (term )
•5 SENA Training centers
•150 SENA apprentices
•5 SENA instructors
2016 Pilot 2 (term )
•18 SENA Training Centers}
•640 SENA apprentices
•26 SENA instructors
2016 Pilot 3 (term )
•38 SENA training centers
•615 SENA apprentices
61 SENA instructors
Japan
•Universities 11
•Students 350
•teachers 15
•Plus Taiwan and Thailand
•Universities 16
•Students 650
•teachers 23
•Plus Taiwan, Thailand, China and UAE
•Universities 18
•Students 900
•teachers 26
•Plus Taiwan and UAE
Method - The Questions
All big cities, whatever the country, are the same: lots of buildings, too many cars and fast food restaurants.
As long as we all speak the same language, there’s no problem.
My country’s culture should be a model for the rest of the world.
People in other countries don’t value life the way we do in my country.
I really know my own culture and can explain it to others.
Foreigners probably can’t understand my country’s culture.
I think it is important for me to learn about many other cultures.
I would feel comfortable even if there are many foreigners around me.
When living in a foreign country you should take on all the customs and culture of that country.
My country’s culture is very different to other countries’.
I know the taboos in my country’s culture and can explain them to others.
I can say what I really feel more openly in a foreign language than in my own language.
I think some cultures are hesitant to talk about some topics that are OK in my culture.
Future Goals
10,000 Students per country
Formalized agreements between the education centers in all participating countries.
Develop a "global syllabus"
Develop 3 levels of English
SENA, Colombia in 2017
Term 2 – reach 1,200 SENA apprentices participating in 60 training centers nationwide
Term 4 – reach 2,000 SENA apprentices participating in 80 training centers nationwide
Pedagogical goals: Increase the input and output of real-world communication; offer cultural acclimatization to students
Activities: Participation in a variety of forums where text, audio and video can be posted (starters’ course). Participation in a number of different forums and a Cultura project (Continuers’ course)
Participants: Non native EFL learners from 6 countries (at present)
Platform: MOODLE - Open source LMS, Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) allows for connectivity with other LMS.
Japan
Increase the number of participating universities from 20 to 50.
Expand the possibilities to include physical exchanges.
Develop a "global syllabus"
Create levels
Findings / Overall Results
Japan side
Results are still being analyzed but the following results were interesting (change > 2%):
How to get involved?
Create a list of students in a spreadsheet.
First name, Last name, address, (login id, password)
the list to IVE Project staff.
International side - Eric Hagley
Colombia side - Ruben Pulgarin
Show students how to log in and make a post.
* in the future, we hope to make it even simpler!
Question number
Pre total agrees%
Post total agrees%
change% 1
59.7
56.8
-2.8 2
35.6
32.0
-3.6 5
43.6
49.5
5.9 8
63.4
66.7
3.3 9
74.3
70.3
-4.0 10
78.9
74.9 11
45.9
53.8
7.9 12
39.9
45.5
5.6
Keys for Successful Exchanges
Frequent communication between instructors
Share basic teaching philosophy and objectives
Monitor students’ activities and give constant encouragement
Integrate exchange into the curriculum
Develop ways of incorporating exchange into assessment - intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
Have a good understanding of the technology to be used
Though the results are not statistically significant, considering the short time span of the exchange, we can still see that students improve their understanding of their own culture and have a broader view of other cultures too.
How can this be used in my curriculum?
Course main activity
Additional project within a larger framework.
Outcomes are based on teacher collaborations in the course.
Eric Hagley - Muroran Institute of Technology
Thom Rawson - Nagasaki International University