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Non-Native Users and Global Classrooms As a Tool  
for Language Learning 

 
Victoria Amores 

 
Universidad Del Pacifico, Ecuador 

 
Abstract 

 
The Global Understanding Program is an initiative of East Carolina 
University (ECU) in Greenville, North Carolina, USA.  Universidad Del 
Pacifico (UDP) in Quito, Ecuador is one of the participants. Participants in 
the program utilized tools such as videoconference and real time chatting 
in order to help non-native students develop and express their ideas on 
cultural themes related to their native countries. Participants were motivated 
by this interactive experience, which allowed them to share ideas with 
students from different countries in a synchronized time. Themes of 
participant discussions included prejudice, stereotypes, college life, religion, 
traditions, among others. These discussions provided nonnative speakers 
from UDP the opportunity to orally communicate in English with their Global 
Classroom partners, and increase their fluency and written skills in English. 
The Global Partner program also allowed for redevelopment of the English 
language curriculum at UDP. Bilingual Spanish-English instructor in 
Universidad Del Pacifico were essential to successful mediation of the 
communicative events.  

 
Global Partners 

 
The Global Understanding Program offers students at partner universities the opportunity 
to learn about different cultures in face-to-face interactions. A main objective is to provide 
for periodical meetings where students from all over the world can get together; learn from 
each other experiences about the reality of their countries. These periodic meetings (or 
“links”) are held various times during a semester between universities as diverse as 
Universidad Regiomontana in Mexico, University of Shimane in Japan, Istanbul University 
inTurkey, Hochschule Heilbronn in Germany, Covenant University in Nigeria, among 
others. According to class schedules and global time zones, universities partner with each 
other for approximately three or four weeks during the year. 
 
Participants in Global Understanding use communication technologies (namely, 
videoconferencing and chat sessions) to interact with international partners in real time. 
Topics generally include themes such as college life, family, cultural traditions, religion, 
the meaning of life, and stereotypes and prejudices of their respective countries; 
participants are encouraged to share their views and opinions openly in order to facilitate 
communication and cross-cultural understanding. At the end of each link students 
collaborate with their peers from the partnering university on a project. (e.g., a song, a 
poem, a nursery rhyme/traditional children`s song) that reflects something they both value 

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Global Partners in Education Journal                                                                                                                    June 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 51-57  

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in relation to one of the cultural themes. Students also choose two or three people from 
each culture (past or present) and describe their contributions to society, or interview their 
parents to define the major changes between their parents’ generation and their own. 
These projects are a culmination of the research and session linking experiences 
between participants from both universities.  
 
Each semester native Spanish-speaking students from Universidad del Pacifico (UDP) in 
Quito, Ecuador link with native English speaking students from East Carolina University 
(ECU) in Greenville, North Carolina, USA. Sessions between these institutions take place 
twice per semester, but each time with different groups of participants.   
 
During all meetings with partnering universities in the Global Understanding Program, 
students at these institutions encounter authentic learning and personal growing 
experiences that they would not otherwise obtain. However, English as Foreign Language 
(EFL) teachers at UDP observed the greatest advancements in language acquisition 
through encounters with ECU, most likely because of the interactions with native English 
speakers. These sessions were successful because UDP English learners were 
interested in understanding their North American partners’ culture more clearly as well as 
interested in expressing themselves fluently about their own culture in English.  
 
In addition, these interactions provided the EFL teachers in Ecuador an opportunity to 
use the English native speaking participants at ECU as language models. The nonnative 
students at UDP demonstrated positive results in their English language acquisition and 
U.S. cultural understanding throughout their encounters with peers at ECU throughout 
meetings of the Global Partners program.  
 

Link Session Preparation 
 
Pre-linking preparation is essential for ensuring a successful and effective interaction. 
Participant preparation can include introductions, common practices of video-
conferencing protocols, and pre-conferencing rehearsals (Comber, Lawson, Gage, 
Cullum-Hanshaw, & Allen, 2004), and, as may be necessary for cross-cultural and cross-
linguistic encounters, some level of language and cultural training. The following section 
describes the main components of the preparation process, which included technological 
training, language training, and rehearsal.  
 
Technology 
 
Before students gain access to the communicative tools of the Global Classroom, 
teachers at UDP train participants on how to properly use videoconferencing, chatting 
and email, as these technologies require a different set of communicative skills than those 
found in traditional language classrooms (Hafner, Chik, & Jones, 2013). Pre-conference 
preparation is intended to help students feel more confident in their communicative 
abilities—especially regarding English—and provide for more productive encounters. 
Participants communicated synchronously either through videoconferencing using the 
polycom videoconferencing tool or via real-time chatting using the MIBBIT WebChat tool. 

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Global Partners in Education Journal                                                                                                                    June 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 51-57  

http://www.gpejournal.org/                                                                                                                                                                 ISSN 2163-758X 

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Each group of participants uses either the chat forum or the videoconferencing forum for 
one hour. They then switch their conferencing tool for the second hour so that each group 
uses both videoconferencing and chat. All groups used email for asynchronous 
communication, which provided access to their international partners outside of class in 
order to interchange ideas or information on a regular basis. The students use e-mail in 
order to decide what to do for their collaborative project and to work together for the final 
presentation.  
 
An advantage of videoconferencing is that it enables participants to utilize paralinguistic 
cues such as facial expressions and gestures in order to facilitate comprehension. 
However, since gestures may not be cross-culturally applicable (Galloway & Rose, 2015), 
participants need training to understand the meaning of these gestures. Students are 
trained to interpret facial expressions for meanings such as understanding, confusion, 
and approval. They are instructed to speak loudly and slowly when presenting their ideas, 
and they are even instructed on appropriate seating arrangements. In addition, teachers 
learn the technical steps to use the polycom as well as how to avoid TTT (Teacher Talking 
Time) while video-conferencing. Teachers learn to move around the classroom and help 
students understand their Global Partners’ comments by paraphrasing some of the ideas. 
 
On the other hand, an advantage of chatting is that it can occur outside of the time frames 
arranged by the participating institutions through resources such as Facebook, Google 
and others. Similar to face-to-face conversation, chatting occurs in a real-time 
environment in which users must negotiate meaning by modifying their written output 
(Shrum & Glisan, 2011). While chatting is limited in that it is more likely to improve written 
rather than spoken communicative abilities (Grgurovic, 2011), chat sessions have the 
advantage of being able to be downloaded, which EFL teachers may later reference in 
order to focus on the grammar, vocabulary and syntax inconsistencies with nonnative 
students.   
 
Language and Preparation 
 
The level of English proficiency for UDP participants ranged from beginner to advanced, 
or from A1 to B1 on the Common European framework for reference for languages 
(CEFR, n/d). These differences presented challenges for the EFL instructors at UDP who 
were monitoring the Global Understanding sessions. For instance, EFL teachers 
sometimes faced a lack of motivation, especially among participants who are not 
proficient enough to communicate fluently with their peers. Preparation of vocabulary and 
grammatical structures ahead of Global Understanding sessions helped nonnative 
speakers develop their abilities in formulating appropriate questions and questioning 
techniques. The preparation sessions also provided UDP participants with general 
knowledge about the cultural realities of their ECU partners. Appropriate content 
preparation seemed to increase UDP student motivation, especially after their interactions 
during the first inter-institutional conferencing.  
 
The UDP Global Understanding coordinator is responsible for maintaining the schedule, 
assigning a teacher to each class, and organizing the meetings. At UDP classes are held 

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Global Partners in Education Journal                                                                                                                    June 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 51-57  

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in Spanish rather than English, as most instructors at UDP do not speak English. 
However, the Global Understanding coordinator in UDP must be an EFL expert bilingual 
in both English and Spanish in order to prepare the students for the meetings. Groups 
are comprised of students with different proficiency levels of English, ranging from 
expanding to bridging. Bridging level students are more competent and their learning 
processes are more accelerated than expanding students, and problems with 
pronunciation and grammatical structures are less frequent and therefore easier to 
accommodate.   
 
However, the majority of students at UDP are in the expanding level, who may be 
described as long term language learners with high oral skills and low in literacy.  They 
are usually competent in most everyday social interactions, use colloquial and social 
expressions with ease, remain silent or reluctant to take risks or be talkative and ‘sound 
good’. These students rely on support, visual cues, demonstrations and explicit language 
instruction on new content and have grammar, tense, word choice (Alberta Goverment 
K-12, 2013). Because they have more linguistic interference from their L1 Spanish, 
expanding level students require more tutoring before the link sessions. In some 
instances, it has occasionally been difficult to ensure a smooth and natural exchange of 
opinions because less-proficient nonnatives have had difficulties with expression despite 
their preparation for the sessions. At times, the nonnative UDP participants were 
observed creating English words to convey their point of view or relying on Spanish. EFL 
teachers at UDP need to be aware of the possibility of this linguistic interference in order 
to be able to address grammar and pronunciation issues prior to conferencing (Comber 
et al., 2004).   
 
Nonnative speakers in the expanding level need more class hours to prepare them for 
the links, so outside tutoring is provided prior to the linking sessions. Tutoring sessions 
involve researching potential themes of conversation with each student on a one-on-one 
basis so that they can identify their main ideas. Students first put these ideas on paper 
and then identify grammatical errors through peer-to-peer consultations. They 
subsequently complete revisions and the teacher gives a short lecture on each identified 
error. After the revisions and lecture, students practice their oral skills by researching and 
presenting on one of the cultural themes from the link session. 
 
Finally, it has been observed that a bilingual Spanish-English colleague at ECU can allow 
UDP participants to express themselves more easily as well as help ECU participants 
better understand the main ideas by being able to address misunderstandings. Also, 
nonnative participants seem to be less nervous, and less inhibited when a bilingual ECU 
teacher participates. Overall, bilingual teachers at both institutions help both native and 
nonnative students and facilitate a more cooperative and communicative environment. 
 
UDP’s coordinator—an EFL professional—assigns groups of students to participate in 
the conferencing, organizes the meetings, guides the students through the conferencing 
process, and oversees pre-conferencing tutoring. EFL students at UDP rehearse their 
presentations before each of the link sessions. This practice allows students to review 
their language structures and vocabulary as well as build participant confidence prior to 

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Global Partners in Education Journal                                                                                                                    June 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 51-57  

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their exposition in front of their partners. When nonnative students are prepared, L1 
language interference is less likely to disrupt fluency—that is, not hesitating when 
speaking, being able to express a point with appropriate grammar structures, 
understanding others when spoken to, and generally not slowing down the flow of a 
conversation (CEFR, n/d). The rehearsals enable nonnative participants to focus more 
intently on their message rather than the form during the videoconference sessions. 

 
Successful Communication: A Shared Responsibility 

 
Throughout the sessions it was noticeable how bilingual Spanish-English faculty could 
facilitate successful student-student interaction during the conferencing sessions. For 
instance, bilingual faculty in Ecuador were able to prompt UDP participants when they 
struggled to express themselves and could provide recasts to clarify potential areas of 
miscommunication or misunderstanding. Bilingual faculty in the USA seemed to help UDP 
students be less nervous and less inhibited. In addition, these faculty aided ECU 
participants in better understanding their conversation partners.   
 
Yet while providing the nonnative participants preparatory language instruction benefitted 
interaction during the conferencing sessions, ensuring successful cross-cultural 
communication is not the sole responsibility of nonnative interlocutors. The success of an 
interaction depends on interlocutors’ ability to adapt to immediate communicative 
demands (Firth, 1996), and in native/nonnative interactions it may frequently be 
necessary for native speakers to adapt to the communicative situation (Jenkins, 2011). 
Indeed, the communicative burden must be shared, and native participants must also 
prepare themselves both linguistically and culturally for the experience.   
 
Based on Daft and Maric (2013), the following provides a list of ways native participants 
can prepare for cross-cultural communicative situations such as those of the Global 
Classroom: 

1. Avoid culturally narrow expressions, idioms, colloquialisms, slang, or too much 
humor 

2. Use simple words and, if possible and if known, use cognates  
3. Be careful with non-verbal language. Do not, for instance, cover your mouth with 

your hand when speaking  
4. Likewise, pay attention to facial expressions and body language 
5. Speak slowly, carefully, and be sure to enunciate  
6. Pause in between main ideas in order to allow the listener time to consider what 

has been said and also ask questions  
7. Frequently check for comprehension and invite feedback; encourage interlocutors 

to re-cast what has been said  
8. Be aware of cues of misunderstanding, such as in appropriate laughter, continual 

nodding, silence, and polite smiling  
 

 
 
 

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Global Partners in Education Journal                                                                                                                    June 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 51-57  

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Conclusion 
 
A central goal of the Global Understanding program is to create a communicative 
environment where students can participate and learn to respect cultural differences. This 
objective is realized through videoconferencing and webchat sessions. Yet the ability to 
successfully communicate through these technological forums needs to be developed 
and acquired with practice. UDP students have shown a willingness to prepare for 
meetings by participating in language tutoring sessions, mock rehearsals, and 
researching on their conversational partners’ culture. It is essential for all participants in 
the Global Understanding program to understand that oral and written communication are 
essential to success of the program’s objectives, and that instruction in cross-cultural 
communicative behaviors can facilitate the exchange of information during interactions. 
Participants must be willing to express themselves openly about the cultural themes of 
their country in order to develop a sense of friendship and community with their peers 
from the other universities. The supervising teachers are responsible for preparing 
participants for these interactions.   
 
The EFL instructors at UDP use the conferencing data (e.g., chat transcripts) to guide 
their post-conferencing instruction, identifying sources of miscommunication and using 
these as starting points for classroom discussion or other pedagogical interventions. 
During sessions, however, it has been observed that bilingual Spanish-English teachers 
supervising the links at each institution can reduce misunderstandings, especially when 
native participants are involved. The bilingual experts can aid participants through 
recasts, paraphrasing, and providing cultural explanations. 
 
Global Partner universities include institutions from all over the world, but English is the 
language of communication during the links. Although students from Universidad Del 
Pacifico (UDP) have met with other participants from universities around the world, some 
of the most challenging sessions were those with the native English speakers at ECU. 
This observation demonstrates how nativeness may actually impede some aspects of 
international communication and highlights the necessity of training all interactants—
regardless of linguistic background—in international communication skills.    
 

References 
 
Alberta Government K-12. (2013). Proficiency benchmarks. Retrieved from 

http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/eslapb/documents/Characteristics_of_English
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CEFR. (n/d). Common European framework for reference for languages: Learning, 
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http://www.gpejournal.org/                                                                                                                                                                 ISSN 2163-758X 

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Daft, R. L., & Maric, D. (2013). Undestanding mangement (8th ed.).Boston: Cengage 
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instruction.Boston: Cengage Learning. 
 
 
About the Author 
 
Victoria Eugenia Amores is the Language Department Regional Director and Exchange 
Program Coordinator at Universidad Del Pacifico. She is also the Virtual Classroom 
Supervisor. 

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