Foreign Language (FL) classrooms should be places where, at a minimum,
communication is taking place in the foreign language being taught and
intercultural understanding is also being developed. However, in countries
where the majority of students are from a single cultural background, it is
often difficult to keep students on-task if they do not have to use the
language they are studying. Virtual Exchange (VE) ensures students interact
with their online peers in the FL, as it becomes the lingua-franca. However,
student attitudes toward such VE in the FL classroom are still not fully
understood. This paper researches students’ attitudes toward one VE, the
International Virtual Exchange Project (IVEProject). Each iteration of the
IVEProject is for eight weeks. Students interact asynchronously on Moodle
forums in text, audio, and video. More than 15,000 students from 15
countries have participated in at least one of the VE carried out since
2016. Online surveys are carried out at the end of each exchange. Results
suggest students have an overall positive attitude toward incorporating VE
into FL and intercultural classes.