The Language Hangouts Project: Implementing video chats to develop English skills and cross-cultural community

This interactive session presents the Language Hangouts Project, developed by Haiti Partners as an experiential learning method for Haitian students to practice conversational English. Extending their learning spaces outside the classroom, students engage in weekly conversations with native English speakers through web-based video chats for sessions scheduled for eight weeks (Ballard, 2014).

Students and their English-speaking counterparts discuss and reflect upon their academic studies, future hopes and goals, and the value of family and community. While the primary goal is learning English, additional outcomes have emerged including intercultural communication, cross-cultural collaboration, and how to integrate technology into a mutually beneficial exchange. This program also provides a framework for developing leadership skills (Guthrie & Jones, 2012), while attaining levels of English fluency necessary for social entrepreneurship opportunities and increased job prospects.

The scalability and flexibility of this program provides numerous opportunities to create a community of inquiry (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000), and to adapt to high-impact practices including service-learning with an emphasis on global and collaborative learning. Most importantly, video chats provide one-on-one synchronous interaction that wouldn’t be possible without study abroad. Broadband access, laptops with built-in cameras and access to free Google video chats has resulted in a community of learners exchanging perspectives on culture, family, and dreams while recognizing their shared heterogeneous and homogeneous characteristics.