Virtual Worlds and Language Learning

Erin Barrett ESL Teacher Mike McKay Education Technology Researcher http://slideshare.net/erinbarrett

Erin Barrett Bree Fairlady [email_address] Puyallup, WA BHS Human Services Trinity Certification TESOL 5 Years teaching English in Budapest, Hungary Second Generation Educational Technologist

Mike McKay Professor Merryman [email_address] Mukogawa Women’s University Kobe, Japan BS in eBusiness M. Ed. in Technology Living in Japan since 2000 15 years web development experience 10 Years English teaching experience in Japan

Virtual worlds are changing the way we learn languages. Instead of studying a language, we can live in it. By guiding our students through realistic world simulations we can teach them invaluable lessons in language acquisition and cultural acclimation. Companies interested in their future employee's ability to speak English can be assured knowing that the university is providing them with current relative content and global exposure that is immediately applicable to their real life.

Gif Constable Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v = CaLKFeJLnqI

Defining Simulation Language Learning
Student, Teacher, Business Needs
Content Creation
Traditional, Blended, and Virtual Delivery
Virtual Life Community
Creating and delivering relevant and realistic simulated language learning environments

is an interactive learning event with a realistic setting and the necessary background information

offers the opportunity of learning by doing; presents a task to perform or a problem to solve together

allows the learners to make choices, shows the consequences of those choices and builds confidence in the learners when the problem is mastered

is more than a role-play because the learners act as themselves and use their own judgments and linguistic resources

reduces anxiety about linguistic performance because learners are not judged, corrected or evaluated immediately

is highly motivating because language is learned creatively and communicatively

can help develop cognitive abilities such as analyzing, evaluating and synthesizing information

provides the opportunity to acquire intercultural and interpersonal competence such as being a team-player and cooperation

Student
Make it interesting
Make it relevant
Make it easy
Teacher
Make it easily presentable
Make it accessible
Make it relevant
Business
Make it relevant
Make it assessable
Make it cost efficient

What do businesses need? Ask them Contact affiliated companies Surveys, Interviews, Job Shadowing

Traditional Content
Textbooks, workbooks, DVDs, CDs, website
Hypermedia DVD Textbooks plus home/school software
Web 2.0 e-Learning
Blended - Moodle
100% online – Mass content
Virtual Learning Environment
Blended – Moodle + Second Life
Globally Collaborative

Cypris Village is home to the Cypris Chat group; an international non-profit community for English language learning. The purpose of our group is to provide a virtual social networking and meeting place for people looking to SPEAK English rather than study it. We hope this community will foster friendships far and wide while at the same time providing a fun and safe environment for language learning. http://cypris.ning.com

We strive to provide an educational yet fun and interesting environment for English learning and teaching.
Our members have the chance to be part of a living community surrounded by others who are learning, teaching or simply interested in speaking English with people from around the world.
We believe learning should be a way of life instead of a struggle to achieve.

Our group is made up of people from all over the world but the bulk of our members come from Asia.
The age range of our members seems to be between 30 and 50.
Level of English competence ranges from beginner to almost fluent.

Share – safe toys, clothes, avatars, gadgets. Sharing promotes communication.
Respect – different cultures, backgrounds, and reasons for being in SL.
Respond – Let us know what you think.
Be Active – Speak. Ask questions. Participate. Less text chat. More voice!

Native Speaker with some experience teaching in RL.
Notecards
Slideviewers
VOICE!

Professor Merryman Kobe, Japan Basho Singh Columbus, OH DukeVan Acker Kyoto, Japan Feronymous Tremor Gyeongsangbuk-do Republic of Korea Bree Fairlady Puyallup, WA

Made available to learners in a box they can click and collect.

Uploaded as .jpeg or .png
Shown in a media or slide viewer

Courses are offered to members of the Cypris Chat group as a place to study outside of Second Life. Here, tutors and learners can connect in private classes. Tutors can offer various classes such as pronunciation, writing, listening, reading, presentations and test taking for TOEIC and TOEFL. Moodle interfaces with Second Life where members can complete activities and tasks to earn points.
http://professormerryman.com/moodle

15 minutes
Welcome and warm-up
45 minutes
Present and practice
30 minutes
Performance Activity
30 minutes
Travel Time or Island Activity

Native or fluent non-native speakers with some experience either moderating or tutoring groups.

Non-native or native speakers. No teaching experience required.

I had many chance to learn English more when I was student…but was not so interested in it… and since I came in SL…I found its fun to communicate with people in English.. I come here 18 day, I think my English is better than my 10 years “student”.

ESP classrooms benefit most from the use of simulated learning environments. The web and virtual worlds can provide a flexible means of delivering relevant, engaging, motivating lessons that are easily accessible, assessable and cost efficient. Thank you Erin Barrett [email_address] Mike McKay [email_address]

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Virtual Worlds and Language Learning

by Erin Barrett

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