L2 Students’ Comments on Language Exchange Communities in Language Learning

Abstract

Problem Statement: EFL learners are rarely given opportunities to interact with native speakers and “…to do something with a language”. In Turkish settings, language learners mostly complain that they do not have enough opportunities to interact with native speakers, and class hours are too limited to acquire a language and more importantly they are not taught expressions that help them express themselves in daily contexts.
Purpose of Study: This study aimed at investigating EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners’ experiences in a Language Exchange Community, namely xLingo.
Method: 16 students from a state university spent time on language exchange communities. The researcher met these students once a week to make sure that everything was going fine. The students used xLingo for almost six months. The researcher interviewed them through the five questions that were earlier developed and piloted by the researcher himself.
Findings and Results: The findings mostly focused on four aspects namely language development, autonomy, culture and self-confidence.

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