Psychological changes following L2 e-tandem learning: A case study

This study reports on an investigation into students’ psychological changes during an eTandem program. The case study explored whether the use of eTandem: (1) reduced students’ Unwillingness To Speak English (UTSE), (2) reduced students’ Anxiety about Communicating with a Foreigner (ACF), and (3) allowed for an increase in the parameter known as Having Things to Communicate (HTC). In addition, a qualitative study was conducted to determine how participants felt and what they noticed through practicing eTandem. This research comprised a case study of two Japanese male undergraduate students at a national university in Japan and three Chinese students at Pennsylvania State University. Data were collected using a nine-item questionnaire on UTSE, a ten-item questionnaire on anxiety, and a six-item questionnaire on HTC. The questionnaires were administered to the two students before and after eight eTandem sessions. They recorded their experiences in reflection sheets. Results showed that UTSE and anxiety were greatly reduced. In addition, participants substantively improved their HTC on the post-questionnaire. These results suggest that repeated speaking practice via eTandem may help alleviate students’ UTSE and anxiety and may help enhance their HTC.