From anticipated language barriers to curricular misalignment: A transnational virtual exchange between Turkish and Spanish prospective  teachers

FOCUS ON ELT JOURNAL, cilt.8, sa.2, ss.1-24, 2026 (Hakemli Dergi)

Virtual exchange (VE) has become an increasingly important component of foreign

language teacher education (FLTE), offering prospective teachers opportunities for

intercultural communication, collaboration, and professional development. However,

relatively few studies have examined transnational models of virtual exchange

(TMVE) involving pre-service teachers from diverse linguistic and cultural

backgrounds. This study explored the VE experiences of 25 pre-service English

language teachers in Turkey and Spain, focusing on the benefits and challenges they

encountered and their suggestions for future VEs. Drawing on Collaborative Online

International Learning (COIL) and TMVE, participants completed a five-week

exchange through synchronous and asynchronous tasks, using English as a lingua

franca (ELF). We collected data through pre-, mid-, and post-surveys and focus-

group interviews and analyzed them thematically using an abductive approach.

Participants reported benefits related to language learning, intercultural learning,

professional development, collaboration, and digital skills. However, a clear

mismatch emerged between anticipated and experienced challenges. Participants

mainly expected linguistic and cultural barriers, whereas the most frequently reported

difficulties concerned scheduling, technical problems, insufficient guidance, short

duration, and group dynamics. The findings indicate that future VEs should provide

more consistent instructions, establish session schedules in advance, offer regular

instructor support, and assign comparable assessment weight across partner courses

when possible.