Volume 29 Number 1, 2025 Anxiety in virtual exchange and its relationship with social presence

Anxiety in virtual exchange and its relationship with social presence

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Sept. 8, 2025, 10:08 p.m.
access-status:
open.access
bitstream:
[['https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstreams/a09581a8-e897-416a-8528-abaa33dc1320/download', '29_01_10125-73641.pdf']]
bitstream_txt:
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collection:
Volume 29 Number 1, 2025
contributor.author:
Nissen, Elke Cavalari, Suzi M. S. Aranha, Solange
date.accessioned:
2025-09-04T22:37:48Z
date.available:
2025-09-04T22:37:48Z
date.copyright:
2025
date.issued:
2025-09-08
description.abstract:
This exploratory study investigates the relationship between students’ anxiety and social presence (SP) in virtual exchange (VE). While existing literature predominantly focuses on a single type of anxiety in online learning (i.e., FLA or online learning anxiety), this study examines (a) the various types of anxiety students experience in collaborative online settings and how these evolve over time, and (b) the underexplored relationship between anxiety and SP. Using a mixed-methods, longitudinal approach, we analyse survey and reflective reports data from 28 students at four stages of a 10-week VE between two universities, one in Brazil and one in France. Students reported diverse anxiety types, with collaboration, language, technology, and task expectations being most prominent at the outset. While overall anxiety levels varied among students, they remained relatively stable on average over time. However, some specific types of anxiety shifted—for example, task-related and time-management anxieties increased, whereas others, including anxieties related to collaborating with others, using the English language for the exchange, and technological issues, decreased. A positive relationship was found between SP and reduced anxiety, which seems to evolve in parallel with the type of interaction and focus within the small groups prompted by the VE tasks. However, qualitative findings, while largely confirming the trends, reveal a more complex picture and suggest that this relationship is influenced by factors such as anxiety type, group use of WhatsApp, and group organisation.
endingpage:
18
format.extent:
18
identifier.citation:
Nissen, E., Cavalari, S. M. S., & Aranha, S. (2025). Anxiety in virtual exchange and its relationship with social presence. Language Learning & Technology, 29(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.64152/10125/73641
identifier.doi:
https://doi.org/10.64152/10125/73641
identifier.issn:
1094-3501
identifier.uri:
https://hdl.handle.net/10125/73641
language:
eng
number:
1
publicationname:
Language Learning & Technology
publisher:
University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center Center for Language & Technology
rights.license:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
rights.uri:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
site_url:
/item/10125-73641/
startingpage:
1
subject:
anxiety, social presence, virtual exchange, higher education
title:
Anxiety in virtual exchange and its relationship with social presence
type:
Article Text
volume:
29