Reforging cultural identity through global virtual exchange: a case study of an Asia-Africa project

As higher education becomes increasingly internationalised, Global Virtual Exchange (GVE) has emerged as a promising pedagogy for intercultural learning across geographically distant contexts. Yet existing literature centred on Global North settings and often treats GVE as a neutral platform for contact, overlooking how identity, language, and power are negotiated within uneven post-colonial conditions. Addressing the limited research on Global South collaborations, this study conceptualises GVE as an emerging pedagogy rather than a technological tool. Through a post-colonial lens, it examines how students in an Asia-Africa GVE project negotiated cultural differences. Findings show that GVE created a dialogic contact zone where students questioned inherited stereotypes, reflected on divergent communicative norms, and renegotiated cultural and learner identities. However, these processes were shaped by asymmetries in English proficiency, educational traditions, and intercultural skills. The article argues that GVE’s transformative potential depends on critically designed structures supporting reflexivity, communicative divergence, and equitable engagement.