Abstract In this paper, we present an exploration of how to effectively introduce COIL between Japan and the U.S., where there are large time differences and semester discrepancies. While the time for synchronous activities was limited, asynchronous activities were devised using an LMS so that interactivity and collaboration would not be compromised by this limitation. On the contrary, we found that asynchronous activities were actually quite effective in overcoming significant language barriers between the students. Although it is difficult for non-native speakers to respond immediately to questions and answers, we found that asynchronous activities enable question-and-answer sessions with rich content. This initiative also shows that a large number of students can be exposed to COIL by combining smaller groups of students with different motivations within the large-scale setting.
Takamitsu et al. (Sun,) studied this question.