Interaction

Intercultural

Competence

Authenticity

Affective

factors

Asynchronous

Private

platforms

School

Partnerships

Synchronous

Ethnography

Structured

tasks

Open

discussions

Biographies

Free

TalkAbroad

Language Twin

iTalki

WeSpeke

The Mixxer

Conversation Exchange

Paid

As excited as I am to continue having

conversations with people I meet through

WeSpeke, I don’t think that it is a better

alternative to TalkAbroad. I thought that

TalkAbroad was very easy to navigate

and the whole experience felt very

professional. The conversation partners

that I had seemed to be very prepared

for our conversation. It was a really good

experience. Literally the only problem I

can think of is that it isn’t free.

I actually preferred my partner for

WeSpeke, but she was difficult to find.

Before I found her I had messaged a few

accounts but they were all spam. Overall

I think WeSpeke was a better site; it was

sort of awkward during TalkAbroad

because there was a clear teacher-

student divide that made it a little

uncomfortable because there was an air

of expectancy. With WeSpeke we were

both students who both were learning.

Start with why

Once is not enough

Integrate it fully throughout the course

Give students autonomy and guidance

Guidance is not just about preparation

Preparation is not just about writing questions

Language use

Task characteristics

Attitudes and perceptions

Individual vs. group conversations

Learner characteristics

Language development

Effects of preparation strategies

Florencia Henshaw

henshaw2@illinois.edu