using virtual worlds in language learning

USING VIRTUAL WORLDS IN LANGUAGE LEARNING

Heidi Rontu, D. Phil., DirectorTaija Swanström, Coordinator in Swedish LanguageAalto University, Finland

What is a Virtual World?- Second Life as an example

• 3D world where you move around with an avatar

• Games, customer service, shops, culture, education etc.

• Owned by Linden Lab, USA

• Communication through chat or voice

Dresden Gallery in Second Life

The Use Virtual Worlds in the Teaching of Languages

• Provides an authentic environment • Lowers the mental threshold for using the

language– The use of an avatar provides the students a safe playground

for using the language

• Adds playfulness to the learning process

National Language Context in Finland

• Finland’s official bilingualism - 2 national languages Finnish and Swedish – Swedish population 5,8%– Swedish population mostly bilingual (cf. Finnish

monolingual)– Swedish population in the Western and Southern

parts of Finland

National Language Context in Finland

• In higher education– Mandatory for all Finnish students to show proficiency in the

second national language at level B1 (minimum)

• Level B1– Proficiency as an independent language user – Elementary proficiency within own area of expertice

Challenges in the Teaching of Swedish

• Low proficiency level• Low motivation, attitudinal problems• The on-going political debate in society• Contact to authentic language environments scarse• Use of Swedish often limited to the classroom

environment

Second Life at Aalto University

• Initiated by a pilot of teaching Swedish for international students in cooperation with other universities

• Challenges – Low level of technical proficiency among international students– Access to proper teaching facilities in Second Life insufficient– No systematic acces to technical support for teachers

Second Life at Aalto University

• Next step: development of the use of Second Life in the teaching of Swedish for Finnish students– Aalto University provides proper infrastructure for Second Life

(Aalto archipelago including LabLife)– Technical support and pedagogical team work with another

department at the university doing research on the use of Second Life

– Language support from Swedish speaking students in translating materials to Swedish

Second Life in practice

• Different environments used:– Travelling in Second Life using chat– Role play in Aalto LabLife using voice– Test in a laboratory

• The use of both speaking and writing• Simulation of real-life conversations

Lab Life

Traveling in Second Life

Role play in Lab Life

Test in a virtual laboratory

Research in the teaching project

Research group at the department of industrial production (Palomäki & Nordbäck 2011)• Research questions:

– Students experiences in using Second Life – The development of language proficiency

• Methods:– Student questionaire– Vocabulary test with a control group (not using Second Life)

Research in the teaching project

The results• Student experience overall positive

– Learning experience more relaxed, interactive and activating– Students motivated to use foreign language more freely and

openly– Students’ own reflection on their improvement in discussion

skills positive– Use of Second Life a positive experience; high level of

willingness to use it again• Proficiency level slightly better than in the control group

Teacher experiences

• Technical support faced problems– Centrally managed IT environment – Access to continuous technical support when using Second Life

with the students• Pedagogical support needs development

– The planning of the use of multimodality in teaching– The implimentation of multimodality, e.g. virtaul learning

environments– Time allocation for the planning and implementation phases

In Conclusion

• When succesful the use of virtual learning environments is both fun and a great learning experience for the student and the teacher

• A good tool for motivating the students and lowering attitudinal obstacles