The Relationship between Sports Students Exchange Experience and English Learning Motivation of Unnes and UITM Students Setya Rahayu 1 , Fatona Suraya 2 , Ani Mazlina Dewi Mohamed 3 , Soegiyanto 4 , Mawarni Mohamed 5 , Ikhwan Budi 6 , Danti Putri Subagyo 7 , Imam Syihabudin 8 , Rahmat Septianto 9 {setyarahayu@mail.unnes.ac.id 1 , suraya@mail.unnes.ac.id 2 , anima107@salam.uitm.edu.my 3 } Universitas Negeri Semarang, Semarang, Indonesia 1,2,4 Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia 3,5 Abstract. Sports students exchanges has been widely popular due to its benefits for students, one of which is to improve their English skills. In the Faculty of Sports Science, UNNES and Faculty of Physical Education and Health, UiTM, many students who are going abroad mostly in Asia use English, as a lingua franca, to communicate with others whom first language is not English. However, limited studies have discussed on the relationship of joining exchanges program toward the students’ motivation in learning English. This study will be conducted to explain the relationship between participating and non-participating in sports students exchange programs toward the students’ motivation in learning English. The subjects are sports students from UNNES and UiTM. A non-experimental research design with a causal-comparative method will be conducted with a set of questionnaires and an interview rubric as the instrument. The data will be analyzed statistically and will be explained using a descriptive quantitative approach. Keywords: sports students, students exchange, motivation, English as a lingua franca, English skills.. 1 Introduction A student exchange program has gained a lot of traction in universities worldwide [1], as the program proposes several benefits either for students or for the institution. Research discussed several benefits of student exchange program namely students have the opportunity of learning and embracing themselves with a new language [2], [3]; students get social and cultural experiences, students become more multiculturism [4], [5], getting a new understanding of the country they visited, and building international relationship among students [2], [3], [6]. Interestingly, students who experience exchange study develop beyond their area of study and able to embrace themselves in an international and intercultural interaction [7], [8]. The exchange program is also the best way to become proficient at speaking a foreign language, experience different teaching styles, and build an International Resume [9], [10]. An International collaboration project is also great in improving students' cultural competency skills and basic networking [7], [11]. Faculty of Sports Science (FSS), Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES) is one of the Faculty in UNNES, which shows a high commitment to Internationalization [12]. Its internationalization history is closely tied with the history of Aucpess (ASEAN Universities ISMINA 2021, April 28-29, Semarang, Indonesia Copyright © 2021 EAI DOI 10.4108/eai.28-4-2021.2312252