Middleverse
de
Español
in
Second
Life
a
Virtual
Social
Space
for
Language
Acquisi:on
by
Maria
Alessandra
Woolson
Spanish&
Portuguese
Department
Middlebury
College,
VT
Presented
at
2011
NMC
Summer
Conference
Madison
Wisconsin
June
15-­‐18,
2011
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“I
never
teach
my
pupils;
I
only
a;empt
to
provide
the
condi<ons
in
which
they
can
learn”
Albert
Einstein
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Goals
• ACTFL
Na<onal
Standards
for
FL
Learning
(2000)
– Communica<on,
Cultures,
Connec<ons,
Comparisons,
Communi<es
(the
5
Cs)
• MLA
(2007)
– acquisi<on
of
translingual
and
transcultural
competence
– approach
that
addresses
mul<ple
subject
areas
– proficiency
to
engage
in
linguis<c
and
metalinguis<c
exchanges
• Middlebury
College
– language
and
cultural
immersion
– integra<on
of
a
mul<-­‐disciplinary
curriculum
in
the
target
language
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The
Project
• Immersive
3-­‐D
space
• Technology
integra<on:
browser,
images,
digitalized
text,
video,
3-­‐D
modeling,
social
networking
• Synchronous
Chat
and
voice
chat
in
Real
Time
• Authen<c
linguis<c
and
cultural
sengs
• Sensory
experiences
• Ini<ally
resembles
a
video
game,
but
bears
no
specific
goal
• Adop<on
of
Avatar
or
human/humanoid
virtual
figure
and
virtual
iden<ty
of
customizable
appearance
• Par<cipants
or
‘residents’
can
crea<vely
model
objects
and
contribute
to
and
conceive
the
virtual
space
they
will
use
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Pedagogical
Considera:ons
• Pedagogy
preceded
technological
choice
and
guided
spa<al
construc<on
• Designed
in
alignment
with
Standards
• Followed
extensive
use
of
a
variety
of
technologies
through
curricular
content
management
system
to
integrate
materials
and
to
further
student
interac<ons
prior
to
class
• Increased
interac<ons
in
target
language
• Provides
a
culturally
immersive
environment
• Interrogates
how
students
construct
knowledge
in
a
learning
environment
that
is
being
transformed
by
digital
technology
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Why
Use
Virtual
Worlds?
Because:
• we
face
a
genera<on
that
has
entered
into
a
passionate
rela<onship
with
digital
technology
• we
are
mee<ng
par<cipants
‘where
they
already
are’,
immersed
in
an
age
of
informa<on
technology
• digitalized
landscapes
may
already
be
impac<ng
the
way
we
think
about
knowledge.
• Using
technology
in
educa<on
beyond
simple
consump<on,
may
poten<ally
promote
innova<on
• Defamiliarizing
our
ways
of
knowing
is
inspira<onal
• It
forces
a
reconsidera<on
of
barriers
that
frac<on
informa<on
and
of
how
to
re-­‐integrate
learning
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Middleverse
de
Español
• Input
meets
ac<ve
recipients
• Mul<ple
sources
in
Real
Time
• Virtual
iden<ty
offers:
–
par<cipa<on
in
anonymity
– role-­‐play
opportuni<es
–
spontaneous
social
interpersonal
communica<ons
– Increases
self-­‐correc<on
strategies
and
nego<a<ons
through
synchronous
conversa<on
– Promotes
cri<cal
thinking
and
willingness
to
take
linguis<c
risks
– Promotes
repair
moves,
experimen<ng
lexically
and
transfer
of
grammar
and
syntac<c
complexity
form
their
first
language
– Authen<c
tasks
highlights
focus
on
process
over
product
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Pilot
Goals
• Observe
features
of
advancement
of
specific
educa<onal
units
• Evaluate
environment
poten<al
for
expanding
educa<onal
space
into
social
space
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Pilot
• Site
modeled
afer
photographic
images
from
moderns
sec<on
of
San<ago
Chile
due
to
design
universality
of
urban
environments
• Cohort
included
of
all
sec<ons
of
3rd
semester
Spanish
• Students
pledged
to
interact
solely
in
Spanish
upon
entering
the
space
• Conceived:
– FL
acquisi<on
to
serve
mul<ple
disciplines
– Guided
ac<vi<es
mostly
interpersonal
– Display
of
student’s
crea<ve
and
analy<cal
work
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Outcomes
• Promoted
dynamic
and
authen<c
interac<ons
• Facilitated
collabora<ve
work
• Encouraged
reassessing
the
manner
in
which
students
par<cipate:
– from
recep<ve
to
produc<ve
– otherwise
re<cent
to
par<cipate
face-­‐to-­‐face
• Lowering
of
affec<ve
filters
impacted:
–
immediate
interac<ons
upon
arrival
to
class
– Increased
in
classroom
par<cipa<on
– Increased
student-­‐centered
discussions
• Helped
connect
materials
to
other
classes
and
gathered
students
from
different
sec<ons
into
a
community
of
friends
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Other
pedagogical
considera<ons
immediate
to
student
• Self-­‐inquiry
into
a
sense
of
self
and
sense
of
space
• Erasure
of
distance
• Power
of
presence
and
agency
• Expansion
of
collabora<ve
and
individual
crea<vity
• Addi<onal
<me
for
spoken
language
prac<ce
• Choice
of
synchronous
and
asynchronous
ac<vi<es
• Increase
social
interac<on
or
allow
further
isola<on
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Implica<ons
to
tradi<onal
educa<on
environments
• Distance
educa<on
• Presenta<ons
and
discussions
• Simula<ons
and
role-­‐play
• Mul<media
design
• Disrupts
perceived
tradi<onal
hierarchy
of
who
teaches
and
who
is
taught.
• Risk
of
mechanizing
delivery
of
informa<on
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Poten<al
Challenges
• Privacy
considera<ons
• How
students
construct
knowledge
through
virtual
representa<on.
• Implica<ons
for
learning
of
– drivers
that
bring
the
current
genera<on
to
adopt
certain
technologies
over
others
– “too
clean”
a
design
that
lacks
signs
of
daily
use
and
is
visually
“cold”:
color,
shape,
unnatural
properness
• Students’
percep<on
on
how
they
learn
vs.
how
they
actually
learn
• Interference
between
marke<ng
strategies
in
design
and
pedagogical
scopes
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Thank
you
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