Collaborative Learning in Virtual English Class

Abstract

This chapter demonstrates how Second Life (SL) is used to enhance collaborative language learning on a virtual campus of a Hong Kong university. The case study reports on the learning experience of a number of undergraduate students as they navigated through a virtual task in an existing course: English for Technical and Web-Based Writing. Student avatars assessed each other’s work and shared learning experiences and comments via SL-enabled tools such as voting bars and note cards. To determine if this practice was more effective as a learning tool than a traditional classroom or two-dimensional discussion on the Internet, the students’ feedback on SL was collected through the university’s online survey system (i-Feedback), camera recorded focus group discussion and audio recorded tutor feedback. The findings suggest that different tasks in a virtual learning environment may stimulate students’ interest in their learning process, even though the technical complexities might frustrate them. The possibilities, shortcomings, and technical challenges of cultivating a community of collaborative language learning are also discussed.

Student Perception of Open and Mobile Space Designs for Autonomous English Language Learning in Second Life

“…Some research has been conducted in virtual designs for language arts courses , but little to none has been done in self-access learning in virtual environments (Gui & Northern, 2016). Legend (acronyms related to self-access and language acquisition): SLA -Second Language Acquisition SAC -Self-Access Centre SALL -Self-Access Language Learning VSAC -Virtual Self-Access Centre VSALC -Virtual Self-Access Language Centre ESL -English as a Second Language SAL -Self-Access Learning This present research reports on the results of a survey completed by first-year undergraduate students enrolled in the English Language Centre's (ELC) English for University Studies (EUS) subject at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPU), regarding their perception towards and interest in using SL to supplement their language learning during school studies (Li, Wong, Gui & AuYeung, 2013). Students were initially introduced to the concept of self-access learning (Morrison, 2008) via a physical tour of the ELC's Centre for Independent Language Learning (CILL).…”