The Transformation of Language Learning in Virtual Worlds

Dongping ZhengDepartment of Second Language Studies

University of Hawaii

Kristi NewgardenUniversity of Connecticut

LLCMC, Hawaii, October 12, 2009

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Learning online is different from learning face-2-face

visual cues, eye contacts, body gestures

2D is different from avatar-based 3D environments

Body movement, visual perception, social presence

Imagine a hypertext internet screen

It can be individualistic?

You can see who is online and doing what

A guild on a quest

Linear vs. Parallel processingStep-by-step vs. Random accessText first vs. Graphic firstStand alone vs. ConnectedPassive vs. Active Read manual first vs. Zing zingWork vs. PlayPatience vs. PayoffReality vs. FantasyTechnology as foe vs. Technology as a friendContent centered vs. Learner centeredLearn to take test vs. Demand learning to succeedAbstract vs. Immediate consequenceOne fits all vs. Balancing of difficultyInformation vs. Reciprocal transformation

Digital game-based learning (liberman, 2006; Prensky, 2001; Winn, 2007))

Linear +Parallel processingStep-by-step +Random accessText first +Graphic firstStand alone +ConnectedPassive +Active Read manual first +Zing zingWork +PlayPatience +PayoffReality +FantasyTechnology as foe +Technology as a friendContent centered +Learner centeredLearn to take test +Demand learning to succeedAbstract +Immediate consequenceOne fits all +Balancing of difficultyInformation +Reciprocal transformation

The Transformation of Language Learning in Virtual Worlds (Zheng & Newgarden, 2009)

(More than) Five ways to look at learning differently

1. From Transfer to Conceptual Blend2. From Input to Affordances3. From Negotiation for Meaning to

Negotiation for Action4. From Task-based Learning to Design of

Learning Environments5. From Learning About to Learning to Be

From Transfer to Conceptual Blend

Will the skills learned in virtual worlds be transferred to real life situations?

LanguagingLinell, 2009

A dialogical theory of language must assign primacy to action

rather thanto pure cognition and to transmission

LanguagingSwain, 2006

Inspired by Vygostky, thoughts and language are inseparable,

the relationship between them is ongoing, thought to language and language to

thought is a process.

Embodying

Hirose (2002) tools extend the boundaries (skin,

limb) of our body and alter our effectivities.

Also see Clinton (2006 ) and Soares, (2008) on avatar’s move became

player’s move

Embodying

Clark (2001) alerts us that "the emphasis on language as medium of

communication tends to blind us to a subtler but equally potent role: the role of language as a tool that alters the

nature of the computational task involved in various kinds of problem

solving" (p.193).

Conceptual Blend

a gamer resides in both virtual and physical

Blended resources

simultaneously developed dispositions

20

Quest Atlantis

Language Learner?

From Input to Affordancesvan Lier, 2000, 2004

Is virtual real?

When we treat virtual as real, what do we gain or miss as far as

incorporating the full potential of the 3-D virtual WORLD?

Semiotic Sources(Thibault, 2005; van Lier, 2004)

Classroom vs. virtual worlds

Affordances and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

a) an affordance expresses a relationship between a person and a linguisticb) linguistic affordances are specified in the linguistic expression, and available to the active interlocutorc) the affordances picked up serve the agent to promote further action and lead to higher and more successful levels of interaction.

Dogme

Second Life, Google Docs, Whiteboards and Skype

Holodeck

From Task-based Learning and Teaching to the Design of Learning Environments

A real life task

Task: You are at a party. Introduce your partner to three other people.

Role play: You are taking part in a job interview. Your partner will ask you about

yourself. Answer his/her questions.

1. language as abstract objects and rules, and

2. language as action.(Linell, 2009)

"many aspects of the detailed order of interactions cannot be imagined

by armchair reflections; they are discoverable in actual data, but not

imaginable"

From Negotiation for Meaning to Negotiation for Action

(Zheng et al., 2009)

"individual selves cannot be assumed to exist as agents and thinkers before they begin to

interact with others and the world.” (Linell, 2009)

Nik• “Many classroom activities do not work very well in SL. They

lead to groups of students standing around in circles reading notecards. He believes the environment is so visually strong that we need to be able to use it, to create large spaces with motivating games. This will take serious groups of people with serious SL skills to be able to do this. One participant mentions the common misconception of people thinking of SL as a game. This is good because it is attractive to students who like games. But it's also bad because teachers generally think of SL as a game and don't take it seriously. Strong motivations in computer games (mastering tasks, preserving life, evading enemies, etc) are lacking in SL. People will do things over and over again in order to get to the next stage of a game. This is one of the strengths of gaming that could be built into learning.” (http://www.blog-efl.blogspot.com/)

Action-Based Learning (van Lier, forthcoming)

Task-based Content-based Project-based

Exploratory Experiential

English for specific purposes (ESP)Community-based language socialization

Computer-assisted language learning (CALL)

Literacy in the Passion of Art, Hisotry, Music, Sports…

"in a dialgoical theory of languaging ("praxis"), performances is being conceptualized as partly in the performing arts (music, there religious rituals, etc.) (p. 274)

From Learning About to Learning to Be

Emergent Identity developmentLegitimate Peripheral Participation

(LPP)

Conclusion

The possibilities of language learning in virtual worlds may perhaps impact those

who have traditionally had the least access to opportunities to the target language.

As we look at the common practices in SL, we found it difficult not to bring up concepts of the alternative learning

paradigm, the ecological and dialogical view of sense making.

ALOHA spirit

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谢谢！