Intercultural Communicative Development Across Time: Evidence from a Longitudinal COIL Initiative in Japanese Higher Education

Abstract Book of the 10th International Academic Conference on Education

Year: 2026

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Intercultural Communicative Development Across Time: Evidence from a Longitudinal COIL Initiative in Japanese Higher Education

Minako Yogi

ABSTRACT:

This study extends current understanding of intercultural communicative development by examining a sustained Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) initiative in Japanese higher education. Moving beyond single-course or short-term evaluations, the research adopts a programmatic longitudinal perspective to investigate whether virtual exchange can generate stable intercultural learning outcomes across repeated curricular implementations. A mixed-methods design integrates longitudinal cohort survey data with qualitative reflective accounts to capture both reported gains and developmental patterns. Guided by intercultural communicative competence (ICC) theory—particularly dimensions of attitudes, cultural knowledge, interpretive skills, and critical cultural awareness—the analysis reveals robust and recurring developmental tendencies. Quantitative results demonstrate consistent increases in students’ communicative confidence and openness toward cultural difference following participation in synchronous online exchanges. Qualitative findings further indicate a systematic shift from descriptive cultural noticing toward more dialogic, comparative, and reflexive intercultural meaning-making.
Importantly, although individual learners engaged in a limited number of exchange episodes, the cumulative longitudinal dataset provides rare program-level evidence of durability in intercultural learning outcomes. The findings suggest that the pedagogical architecture of the COIL design—specifically structured tasks, scaffolded reflection, and reciprocal interaction—plays a critical role in producing reliable developmental patterns across cohorts.
By reconceptualizing COIL as an institutionalized and progressively refined pedagogical framework rather than a single-session intervention, this study contributes theoretically grounded empirical evidence to the virtual exchange literature and offers actionable design principles for adaptable, long-term intercultural learning in technology-mediated higher education.

Keywords: International Understanding; Mixed-Methods; Student Engagement; Synchronous; Virtual Exchange