Virtual exchange refers to the engagement of groups of learners in online intercultural interaction and collaboration with partners from other cultural contexts or geographical locations as an integrated part of course work and under the guidance of educators and/or expert facilitators. This study presents a qualitative content analysis of reported learning outcomes by students of English in a Spanish university following their participation in one of thirteen online intercultural exchanges. Based on the analysis of 345 learner portfolios, several key themes were identified which provide insight into the type of learning which virtual exchange can contribute to second language classrooms. These included how virtual exchange contributed to overcoming students’ stereotypes, gaining confidence as communicators in their second language (L2) and reconceptualizing English as a tool for communication rather than as an abstract academic activity. A comparison of two models of virtual exchange within the dataset also revealed how task design can influence the outcomes of this activity.

虚拟交流是指学习者群体参与在线跨文化互动和与来自其他文化背景或地理位置的合作伙伴的合作，作为课程工作的一个组成部分，并在教育者和/或专家促进者的指导下。本研究对西班牙大学的英语学生在参与十三个在线跨文化交流之一后报告的学习成果进行了定性内容分析。基于对 345 个学习者档案的分析，确定了几个关键主题，这些主题提供了对虚拟交流可以为第二语言课堂做出贡献的学习类型的深入了解。其中包括虚拟交流如何有助于克服学生的刻板印象，获得作为第二语言 (L2) 交流者的信心，并将英语重新定义为交流工具而不是抽象的学术活动。数据集中两种虚拟交换模型的比较也揭示了任务设计如何影响该活动的结果。