Task Design for Language Learning in an Embodied Environment - Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments - page 265

mAIN FOCUS OF THe CHAPTeR Interaction with others in the target language

is important for successful language acquisition
(Vygotsky, 1978; Long, 1983) and, therefore, it
should have a fundamental place in the language
classroom. In modern language teaching, group
work and pair work are the cornerstones of com-
municative activities. Often coming after a period
of explanation or exploration of a language element
(or as part of these), activities encourage students
to practise what they have learned in an approach
referred as Situational Language. Students might
be asked to use what they learned in a role-play
or discussion. Hopefully, this experience will be
more meaningful and this will allow them to learn
more language as learning occurs during interac-
tion through negotiation of meaning (Long, 1983).
In MUVEs these activities are equally and
in fact more easily possible. Students, who are
represented by their avatars, can work as groups
or pairs very simply and only need to move their
avatars and not themselves, saving time as if
they were in a video game. More importantly,
however, is that in a MUVE, activities that use
communication and interaction can be more
believable and more interactive because of the
MUVE's immersiveness.
In the language programmes examined in this
chapter, most classes take place outside the class-
room. However, they usually have a 'classroom
element' because the concept of 'classroom' is
still there: a group of students gather in the same
place with a teacher. The participants have a com-
mon aim: to learn the target language. Addition-
ally the teacher can pull out of their inventory a
whiteboard or any other classroom resource to
aid explanation and contextualisation. There is
a shared concept of classroom in MUVEs and
face-to-face contexts. MUVEs, however, offer
something else: the teacher can take their students
anywhere and take advantage of the immersive
environment; the classroom is not confined to the
four walls of a real life classroom.

Language Learning and
Teaching in mUVes

Egbert, Chao & Hanson-Smith (1999) point out
that educators do not need a punctual theory on
CALL to understand the role of technology in the
classroom; a clear theory on the acquisition of
second languages and its implications for the learn-
ing atmosphere would complete this objective. In
this way, the conditions that seem to optimize the
learning of a language (Egbert, Chao & Hanson-
Smith, 1999) according to the investigations car-
ried out in the area of SLA and specifically those
related with the social-cognitive perspective, are
also adequate to create a framework for teaching
languages in MUVEs.
In this section, concept of the language class-
room from a face-to-face and a MUVE point of
view will be looked at. Also, the features that
MUVEs bring to the language classroom that
maximize language learning will be presented.
Finally, the advantages and disadvantages in re-
maining within a real world The Communicative
Classroom in face-to-face and MUVE contexts
The 'classroom' is an important locus for
standard language learning. In the context of a
MUVE, there is a strong case for the classroom
to lose its walls and, some would question any
effort to recreate a classroom setting virtually. We
acknowledge there is a very broad debate here
regarding formal and informal learning and the
potential for a completely learner-centred experi-
ence. Beetham & Sharpe acknowledge that “peda-
gogy needs to be re-done as well as rethought”
(2007) and, while learning takes precedence over
teaching, they also revindicate the importance of
guiding others to learn. This section will look at
some of the skill and creativity involved in har-
nessing the learning potential of a MUVE within
the paradigm of a classroom.