This presentation will reflect on theoretical issues related to student agency in virtual exchanges and computer-assisted language learning. The data from a virtual exchange between American and Spanish students will be examined through the lens of key SLA notions: “interaction” (Long, 1983, 1985; Pica, 1992; Gass, 2003), “authenticity” (Kramsch, 1993; van Lier, 1996; Magnan, 2008), “control” (Benson, 2010; Lewis & Vialleton, 2011; Huang & Benson, 2013), “investment” (Norton, 2013), and “agency” (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006; van Lier, 2008). The role that these concepts may play in defining good pedagogical practices for virtual exchanges and computer-assisted language learning will be discussed. Drawing on Foucault’s (1995) insights on power and surveillance, I will suggest that practitioners of virtual exchange and computer-assisted language teaching should be aware of the tensions that arise between the important role that autonomy and agency seem to play in language learning (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006; van Lier, 2008; Huang & Benson, 2013) and the prevalence of educational models and instruments promoting control and accountability.
