December 2017 11 Tree Experiences in Video-Conferencing with Native Speakers of Spanish and French 1 Ana F. Conboy, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University Esther Gimeno Ugalde, Boston College Alexandra Reuber, Tulane University Abstract Student interactive exchanges with native speakers of a target language may increase learners’ self-confdence, production, and oral comprehension in the target language, as well as students’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC). One approach to interactive exchanges is video-conferencing (VC). Tis article discusses three experiences with the use of interactive exchanges with native speakers using video-conferencing tools in target language acquisition in higher education. It outlines how to include VC into the world language curriculum and assesses its benefts and challenges. Additionally, it argues that innovative use of technology Ana Fonseca Conboy (Ph.D., Boston College) is an Assistant Professor of French at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University. She has taught there since completing her Ph. D. in 2015. She teaches courses in language, culture and literature and is the faculty liaison for the French Club and the French Cultural Events Assistants. Her interests include foreign language pedagogy, French phonetics and 17 th -century French literature. Esther Gimeno Ugalde (Ph.D., University of Vienna) is an Assistant Professor of the Practice in Hispanic Studies at Boston College. She is the Chair of the Language Instruction Committee at the RLL Department at Boston College, where she also coordinates the Spanish Language Program (upper-level division). Besides teaching advanced language courses, she teaches Applied Linguistics and Language Pedagogy, as well as courses on Hispanic Linguistics. Alexandra Reuber (Ph.D., Louisiana State University) is a Senior Professor of Practice of French and Adjunct faculty member in the Teacher Preparation and Certifcation Program at Tulane University. From 2009-2014, she served as Director of the Language Program in the Department of French and Italian. Concurrent with her research interests, her teaching focuses on French language and literature courses, foreign language pedagogy, and popular culture studies. NECTFL Review—Special Issue, Number 80, December, 2017, pp. 11-43. © 2017 by Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.