Sessions

Impact of virtual international service-learning on students’ intercultural competence

Intercultural interactions have been mainly implemented in study abroad programs and researchers report the positive impact on the development of students’ intercultural competency (Jackson, 2008; Nakagawa 2009). Since international mobility has been restricted due to the spread of the pandemic, this study explores the possibility of improving students’ intercultural competency through a virtual international service-learning project. The project was conducted with the collaboration of a volunteer organization in Vietnam. 12 English communication majors enrolled in my service-learning course participated in this project and engaged in interacting with Vietnamese university students as their English conversation partners. The interactions took place for 45 minutes in a small mixed group outside the class for one semester. During and after the project, students were required to write several reflective reports, which became the main source of qualitative data. A survey asking the image of Vietnamese was also administered before and after the project. The results showed that students gained deeper understanding about Vietnamese culture and their image about Vietnam has become positive. They also acquired intercultural competence such as empathy, open-mindedness, and flexibility in addition to technological skills. In this presentation, suggestions for implementing successful virtual exchange will be also offered.