Mutually Beneficial Foreign Language Learning: Creating Meaningful Interactions Through Video-Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication

Providing learners of a foreign language with meaningful opportunities for interactions, specifically with native speakers, is especially challenging for instructors. One way to overcome this obstacle is through video-synchronous computer-mediated communication tools such as Skype software. This study reports quantitative and qualitative data from a Skype partner program that emphasized meaningful communication between American students learning Japanese in the United States and Japanese students learning English in Japan. Analysis of pre- and posttests showed significant improvement in the listening and speaking abilities of the Japanese participants and in the speaking abilities of the American participants.