Intercultural exchange projects within efl/esl contexts

This paper argues that intercultural exchange projects can play an essential role in relation to augmenting students’ communication skills in English as a foreign/second language (EFL/ESL). To achieve the intended aim, the paper reports on a three-year research project which was conducted at a private university in Dubai where the researcher works, in collaboration with the researcher’s project’s partner in Bonn, Germany. Intercultural exchange projects are defined as a communicative, collaborative, and student-driven work, requiring the engagement of students in online communication as well as collaboration with peer students from partner classes in geographically distant places, under the supervision of instructors. The researcher used a ten-item questionnaire to measure the effectiveness of intercultural exchange projects, as perceived by the participating students. The paper concludes with the need to conduct intercultural exchange projects by EFL/ESL instructors and researchers working in different parts of the world, in order for students to promote their communication skills in English.