In cultural exchange projects, student engagement is important for receptivity of the English language. The study examined the use of group presentations topics (festivals, tourist attraction sites, local food, traditional games, traditional costumes, education system and folklores) to engage Korean and Malaysian teenagers. The annual collaboration between Namwon Middle School (Korea) and Batu Lintang Secondary School (Malaysia) has been on-going since 2019, consisting of 198 students and three teachers to date. Facilitated by the teachers, all presentation topics are brainstormed by students, they researched, collaborated in groups of four and presented via Zoom. Testimonies from 16 Malaysian participants showed that 87.6% (14 students) were engaged in the exchange projects, highlighting their desire of connecting and communicating with people of diverse backgrounds. They also recognized the importance of collaborative sharing and learning within their ESL classroom context and cross border. This project proved a worthy student-engaging experience for all concerned.

This presentation highlights the importance of developing soft skills in students to enable them to be effective communicators.