Intercultural Learning Through a Chinese-American Education-themed Virtual Exchange Project

Abstract

This study reports on the results of an 8-week virtual exchange project, in which Chinese and American students compared Chinese and American education via videoconferencing and text messaging. The final reflection journals were collected and analyzed at the end of the project. The results showed that, according to Byram’s intercultural competence model, learners developed the interest in knowing other people’s way of life and introducing one’s own culture to others, ability to change perspective, knowledge about one’s own and other’s culture for intercultural communication, and knowledge about the intercultural communication process. Besides, the students have shown positive attitudes towards this learning project due to the theme of education which is the domain of their future careers.