Presentation The Effect of Experience on Student Participation in Online Intercultural Collaborations more

Online intercultural collaborations and virtual exchange programs have become common in EFL classes around the world, however research into the effectiveness of students’ participation in such programs is limited. Following up on previous research into students’ perceptions of these programs, this study compared student participation levels over a 2-semester period to see whether experience led to students participating more. English-major students at a Japanese private university participated in the IVEProject online intercultural collaboration project across both semesters of their third year of study. The participation logs of over 60 project participants in two cohorts were analyzed to ascertain whether performance and engagement improved in the second semester. This study reviewed the number of posts made, the number of words written, and the engagement level of the participants. This session details the quantitative findings of two years’ worth of participants’ engagement in the IVEProject. This presentation will include a brief explanation of the IVEProject as well as examples of how students engaged with other participants. Then the study data and findings will be explained, with suggestions for how attendees can effectively incorporate IVEProject participation in their language courses to increase opportunities for interpersonal communications in English.