Robert Remmerswaal
About
I am interested in virtual exchanges and their potential to transform my students' views of English from a subject to a means of communication with their peers. I am pursuing my PhD in English Education. My research interests include willingness to communicate, motivation, and gaming. Remember to take a listen to the JALTCALL Podcast!Sessions
Presentation When Things Fall Apart: Productive Failure and Recovery in Three Virtual Exchanges more
Virtual exchanges (VEs) provide opportunities for authentic communication and intercultural learning, yet real-world implementation often involves unexpected challenges. This presentation examines three cases of productive failure across different contexts. The first case involved two classes of 25 Japanese university students (A2–B1) paired with classes of approximately 50 students in Spain and Türkiye (B2–C1). A substantial proficiency mismatch required strategic grouping, task reframing, and expectation management to maintain engagement. The second case connected 220 Japanese students with 180 Korean students (A2–B1) in a large-scale VE. Despite detailed planning, technical problems and inconsistent partner procedures disrupted activities, underscoring the importance of deliberately simple platforms and task designs. The third case concerned a Kaken grant-funded VE with a Korean university that collapsed shortly before launch. Rapid redesign and the use of alternative VE resources enabled students to complete meaningful activities despite the cancellation. Across these cases, each setback offered clear reasons to terminate the exchange, yet quick decision-making and reflective redesign led to more resilient systems. The presentation concludes with practical strategies that other instructors can adapt to strengthen their own VEs and, ideally, inspiration to develop creative solutions when facing their own unexpected difficulties.
Presentation Developing a Reliable Listening Placement Test with BookWidgets: A Mixed-Methods Approach more
This presentation outlines a practical process for designing institution-specific listening tests by combining statistical analysis with qualitative instructor feedback. The presenters were tasked with creating a listening test to re-stream approximately 800 first-year students into appropriate second-year course tiers, accommodating a wide range of English proficiency levels. The development process consisted of five stages: creating and recording initial test items, selecting a content creation and assessment platform, trialling draft materials with instructors, administering two pilot versions to current second-year students, and conducting a classical test theory (CTT) analysis of both pilots to guide item selection for the final test. The presentation explains each stage in detail, including the rationale for adopting BookWidgets as the test creation platform, the role of AI in early item generation, instructor feedback on test clarity and difficulty, and the decision to use teacher voice actors rather than AI-generated voices to enhance authenticity. Results from the CTT analysis will be shared. Attendees will leave with practical guidelines and replicable steps for developing reliable listening assessments suited to their own contexts.
