Task Design for Language Learning in an Embodied Environment - Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments - page 264

benefits. It further strengthens the investment of
self in a digital representation but, crucially, also
provides the key element missing from 'e-learning'
for language learning.
In contrast to traditional e-learning and VoIP
(Voice over IP) interactions, where the user is gen-
erally focused on documents or text, or is limited
to audio, MUVE users see their avatar talking with
their own voice to other avatars within a particular
setting. The input received by users is inextricably
connected to their own projected identity, the in-
terpretation of others' identities, the manipulation
of relationships through paralanguage, described
by Pennycook (1985) as proxemics-the role of
spatial arrangements and variations in distances,
kinesics-body movements, gestures, and facial ex-
pression, chronemics-the use of time in nonverbal
communication, and paraverbal features-stress,
intonation and purposeful silence.
Embodiment is especially useful in the con-
text of language-teaching as communication is
strongly social in nature (Gee, 2001; Atkinson,
2002). Interactions using an avatar offer a way
of parsing incoming information, assigning dif-
ferent messages to the participants present. The
mind attempts this with or without visual support.
However, without avatars, the aural load is high,
requiring the user to distinguish voices of poten-
tially unknown participants in addition to attaining
basic comprehension in their second language.
The use of an easily customizable avatar also
provides an outlet for students who may not feel
that their language skills adequately represent
their social identity: a problem not commonly
addressed in the real life classroom.
Summarising, we now have highly customis-
able and, potentially, very realistic virtual environ-
ment. Users engage with this environment through
constructing a projected and personalised identity
and many existing social norms apply in how they
interact with others. This article does not attempt
to define what is and is not included in Cassel's

'embodiment'. However, as practitioners, we note
there is both a virtual platform and interpersonal
voice-enabled space of sufficient tangibility to
transfer many of our real life skills in facilitating
teaching and learning. What is missing is a frame-
work which maps language related competencies
onto the real life situations which can be recre-
ated in a virtual world. That framework for us is
the Common European Framework of Reference
(CEFR) . - See previous section Background: How
is knowledge of language put to use?

Competencies and Their
Relationship to Spaces / Situations

The CEFR can be brought to life in the Second
Life environment. A careful analysis of the compe-
tencies which the CEFR outlines for the different
skills- speaking, listening, writing, reading, and
grammar- lends itself to the development of task-
ready themes. For lower levels, themes revolve
around basic transactional language such as mak-
ing a purchase or making travel arrangements,
or successfully navigating a restaurant order.
By considering the linguistic skills and cultural
knowledge required for these interactions, tasks
can be staged to culminate in confidence-building
simulations. For more advanced levels, planning
in is less straightforward but nonetheless offers
great potential. CEF competencies at this level, in
particular, describe a more academically-prepared
and/or business savvy learner, with significant
emphasis on social language use.
The CEFR is not the only option for a
competency-based framework. The Canadian
Language Benchmarks also have potential to be
mapped against a 3D environment. We would
not, however, recommend the American Council
on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL,
2009) as an adequate guideline for producing SL
tasks, due to the limited nature of its descriptors.