Students’ Perceptions on Intercultural Virtual Exchange (VE) in an English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) Partnership between Spanish and Japanese University Students

The topic of Telecollaboration, also known as Virtual Exchange, has gained prominence in recent years within the field of computer-assisted language learning. In this article, we present the key research findings regarding learners’ perspectives on this language learning approach. We then provide the results of a mixed-methods analysis of the post-task phase of an English as a Lingua Franca exchange conducted between Spanish and Japanese university students as part of the VELCOME project (Virtual Exchange for Learning and Competence Development in EMI Classrooms - RTI2018-094601-B-100). We analysed the data coming from the Japanese cohort’s oral output, the Spanish cohort’s written production and the results of a reflection survey administered to both cohorts in order to answer two research questions: 1) What are the perceived benefits and challenges of the telecollaboration project? and 2) How did the students evaluate these benefits quantitatively and qualitatively? Did both cohorts evaluate them differently? Our results indicate that the students from both cohorts, despite their different cultural backgrounds and language proficiency levels, viewed the exchange very positively. They emphasized several benefits brought about by the experience, such as improvements in oral skills, the opportunity to practice English in an authentic and meaningful context, and the chance not only to learn about another culture, but also to reflect on their own.