Global Learning in a Pandemic

Abstract

This study explores using the Conversifi platform for video-based speaking activities to deepen students' intercultural learning and language skills during the Spring 2021 semester in a fully remote teaching environment. The study included 20 students in an intermediate/advanced college-level Spanish course at The College of New Jersey that focused on intercultural understanding. As part of the course students engaged in five 15-minute conversations via Conversifi with Spanish-speaking students in Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, and Spain. The results of an anonymous survey conducted at the end of the course along with analyses of recorded conversations strongly suggest that this approach deepened students' intercultural awareness and improved their oral proficiency. The Spring 2021 survey results were compared with survey data from similar virtual exchange initiatives during four previous semesters. The comparison revealed slightly less satisfaction and learning in Spring 2021, but all of the exchanges showed positive gains in both language and intercultural learning.