Language learning in virtual worlds.
What the Digital Teaching Assistant could do
The best place to learn a language is where everybody speaks it. There even the little kids speak it. A Digital Teaching Assistant (DTA) can help. This article is explicitly licensed Public Domain (CC0).
You need to know the names
in the target language
in the target language
- Language learning draws on two of the major affordances of virtual worlds:
- Situated learning and social learning.
- A place in a virtual world can be built specifically for learning a language.
- And it can hold people and objects speaking that language.
- It can be set up for immersive language learning.
- With objects that show and speak their names their names in the language.
- And with games that demand use of that language.
- Virtual world language learning - Wikipedia
- Language acquisition in Second Life: Improving self- efficacy beliefs
Immersive language learning
- An immersive situation is well established as best for language learning.
- Immersive language learning (search)
- Immersive language learning (Wikipedia)
- Scholarly articles for immersive language learning
Language learning in virtual worlds
- Second Life as a Tool for Spanish Teaching (Video report)
- Scholarly articles for language learning in virtual worlds
- Language learning in virtual worlds (search)
A virtual place for language learning
- The learning place uses only the target language.
- The place is has many everyday objects that are in in the vocabulary list.
- The objects can give their names in chat if a parameter is set to starter.
- The self-naming feature can be gradually disabled for more advanced students.
Language learning games
- These could be done either in a group or solo.
- They could be done in class or as homework.
- Students can easily meet in virtual worlds if they can match schedules.
- No travel--they can work from home.
- Why a reading assignment is like a treasure hunt. And why it is not.
Treasure hunt
- Find each item in a challenge list (in the target language).
- Items are in expected locations (shoes in a shoe store, etc.)
- On click, the object gives a token identifying the object.
- The challenge is to collect all the tokens as fast as they can.
- Anyone fluent in the relevant vocabulary can do that quickly.
- Anyone who is slow needs more practice--and is getting it.
- Educational treasure hunt game
Follow instructions
- DTA gives instructions in the target language (in text or spoken).
- The instructions call for actions that can be carried out in the location:
- "Click the red block at the base of the big tree."
- The instructions can be as complicated as needed to show comprehension.
- The instructions can use part of the target vocabulary.
- The time score will show the level fluency.
More game sources
- There are plenty of language learning games for the classroom:
- Language games in classroom
- 7 creative ways to teach languages
- These games usually require a group of students and so may be limited to the classroom.
- Unless students can get together outside of class, as in a virtual world.
Who should prepare the DTA for a language?
- It could be a university where the target is spoken as the native language.
- Language learning: What could a virtual (online) campus offer?
- The cost would be too high for most students to go that university for study.
- But the university could have a virtual campus on the student's laptop.
- Or it could provide study sessions managed by native speakers.
- The study sessions could offer language games prepared by native speakers.
Related
- Second Life as a Tool for Spanish Teaching (video)
- Spanish Language Learning Island. Situated learning, immersive learning
- Language learning: What could a virtual (online) campus offer?
- Web-world use case: Conversational spoken English! Or any other langua
- Putting language back into the language arts
- Escape to a New Way to Learn Spanish, invited post by James T. Abraham, Ph.D.
- EduNation: Virtual Worlds for language education
- Language learning in an immersive world. Maybe this is the way to do it.
- Language learning in the new century: Reports: a collection of efforts
- The CAMELOT-GUINEVERE project: Learning language in virtual worlds.
- Guinivere project: A Language learning game in a 3D immersive environment
- Language learning: What could a virtual (online) campus offer?
- The online campus: Your campus on the internet. Meet fellow students, work with them
- Edutopia 1 and 2: Places for practicing English as a second language
- English as a second Language: ESOL, EFLTreasure hunt. The game of learning!!
- Language learning in virtual reality. Learn It Town sim: ESL (VWMOOC)
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Visit me on the web
- Drop by my web offices Weekdays: 12:-12:30 pm Central time (US)
- I am available for free consulting on any topic in this blog.
- Cybalounge and 3DWebWorldz (Orientation room)
- I will be in both places, so you may need to speak to get my attention.
- Web-worlds, 3D virtual worlds running in a browser. Summary
- And we can visit the Writer's Workshop on the Web
- Don't register -- enter as guest.
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- Drop by my web offices Weekdays: 12:-12:30 pm Central time (US)
- I am available for free consulting on any topic in this blog.
- Cybalounge and 3DWebWorldz (Orientation room)
- I will be in both places, so you may need to speak to get my attention.
- Web-worlds, 3D virtual worlds running in a browser. Summary
- And we can visit the Writer's Workshop on the Web
- Don't register -- enter as guest.
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