A Study of the Pedagogical Benefits of Online Intercultural Exchange Between China and Colombia: Investigating Chinese and Colombian EFL Learners’ Perception

Abstract

Online intercultural exchange is developing rapidly in foreign language education, especially English language education. In this study, we used Online Intercultural Exchange with VooV Meeting, focusing on analyzing students’ reflective journals, to draw pedagogical benefits of Online Intercultural Exchange in China and Colombia. Participants in this experiment were students from two separate countries. One group of students was English majors from a Chinese university and the other group was English majors from a Colombian university. The results, analyzed through qualitative analysis of students’ data from two countries, showed that online intercultural exchange produced three consistent major benefits: promoting cultural learning, increasing motivation to learn English, and improving English skills. Analysis of the students’ submitted reflective journals showed that, on average, cultural learning had the highest self-evaluation, followed by motivation to learn English and English skills. Students with intermediate levels of English proficiency had a significantly high sense of positive perception and gain.