2026/01/01 by Hüyla Tuncer, Eric Hagley, Andrew Johnson +1 · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · Psychology · #EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning #International Student and Expatriate Challenges #Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods
paper · doi:10.64152/10125/73677
openalex publication_date 2026/01/01 · openalex created_date 2026/05/20 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
Virtual Exchange (VE) has been gaining popularity amongst Foreign Language (FL) teachers as it allows students the opportunity to use the FL they are studying in real-world situations with peers around the world. While VE allows for extensive language production and the development of intercultural competence, the assessment of these aspects within VE poses significant challenges for teachers. Through the use of a qualitative descriptive design, this paper examines the assessment path eight teachers from six countries took as their students participated in a VE. It outlines the reasoning behind the assessment designs they chose, how they implemented them, the challenges they faced and the manner in which they overcame them. The teachers were surveyed and interviewed before and after participating in an eight-week, mainly asynchronous VE. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and then thematically analyzed as were the open-ended survey questions. Results show objectives of developing communicative and intercultural competence were major considerations when designing and implementing assessment of student participation in the VE. Most participants favored formative approaches and incorporated both quantitative and qualitative assessment to encourage intercultural communication. Analysis resulted in recommendations to help practitioners enhance their assessment of students’ participation in VE.