| My dissertation addresses the question of how foreign language (FL) students' perspectives and attitudes about their target language (TL), target culture (TC), first language (L1) and L1 culture changed through communicating with each other during an online exchange project. Specifically, the research focused on the personal narratives of ten FL learners who participated in an online project between an English language class at a Japanese university and a Japanese language class at a Canadian university. The objective was to examine perspectives and attitudes about the students' experiences during the online exchange project.;The literature review showed that telecollaborative language exchanges enhance language learning and intercultural knowledge. Through the concept of community of practice (CoP) (Wenger, 2014), language learners improve their skills and become empowered. This study used Wenger's notion of CoP as a theoretical framework in the context of university FL classroom settings. A narrative approach captures students' experiences during their online communication.;The findings demonstrate that students gained confidence and increased their motivation for learning the TL while expanding their language skills and cultural knowledge. Some students showed transformative processes. In both Canada and Japan, the participants appreciated their partners and the community members for friendship, shared interests and learning support, and were able to overcome linguistic challenges during the online communication. However, the findings also suggest that Japanese and Canadian students perceived their online community a little differently. These differences seem to be caused by the notion that the learning process was situated in a local CoP.;The study concludes by offering theoretical as well as pedagogical implications to suggest how FL classes can better support the telecollaborative language exchanges. |
