Students’ Perceptions of a Video Letter Assignment in an Asynchronous Virtual Exchange Project

Abstract

[EN] Advances in technology have enabled students to interact more effectively in virtual exchange (VE) projects across institutions and countries. However, there are still challenges and barriers that need to be addressed (O’Dowd, 2023). This paper reports Japanese students’ perceptions of a video letter assignment in an asynchronous VE project as their first experience of communicating using English and ICT. This preliminary study focuses on the video letter exchange which was conducted as an additional task during the project. The comments of the reflection sheets revealed that they were able to overcome some difficulties and learn through the video letter exchange. It was found that the video letter assignment in the VE project provided an opportunity to learn English expressions and other cultures, to experience differences with partners’ cultures, and express their messages confidently.