The application of the Global Competence Matrix in a virtual exchange program with US and Brazilian students

Abstract

This paper presents the details of a virtual exchange project conducted with 14 university students from Brazil and 14 university students from the US during the US spring quarter of 2019. This virtual exchange was part of the Teletandem Brasil Project, which has been developed by São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil and aims at promoting cultural and language learning in tandem. Students watched videos about current topics in Brazil and in the US and discussed them with their international partners. After the mediation sessions, the participants analyzed the results of their conversations through the Global Competence Matrix, a set of guidelines created by the US global competence task force in 2011. The results point to the importance of using an educational tool to promote a deeper cultural understanding, which in this paper focused on the issue of feminism in Brazil and in the US.

Keywords

• virtual exchange
• teletandem brasil
• global competence matrix
• language learning
• feminism