Multi-User Virtual Environments - Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments - page 290

and reflective practice. Each of these products
and practices can also be used for assessment of
language learning activities in these spaces. As
will be discussed in the sections that follow, it is
critical to measure not only learning outcomes of
participation in MUVEs, but also the process and
behaviors of the interactions themselves. 7
The final noteworthy characteristic of many
commercial MUVEs (e.g., Second Life, Active
Worlds ) is the potential for meaningful intercul-
tural communication and collaboration. As has
been seen in previous research on telecollabora-
tion for language learning (Belz, 2003; Belz &
Thorne, 2005; Belz & Vyatkina, 2005) intercultural
communication via digitally mediated spaces
can play an important role in the acquisition of
various areas of language competence. Multiuser
online spaces are no exception. In a study of
L2 intercultural communication in the MMOG
World of Warcraft , Thorne (2008) describes a
trilingual interaction in which the two players
engage in a variety of strategies encouraged in
L2 learning environments (e.g., negotiation of
meaning, explicit feedback, drawing on external
resources, translation, and reciprocal interaction
between expert and novice). While intercultural
communication is not the focus of this chapter,
it is a potentially powerful benefit of interaction
in many types of MUVEs.

Croquelandia in detail. It then briefly reports an
additional component of the larger study (Sykes,
2008) discussed in the previous section. It spe-
cifically adds insight into our understanding of
learner behavior in MUVEs as related to their
learning experience. 8

Croquelandia

Croquelandia (www.croquelandia.net) is the
first SIE designed specifically for the learning
of Spanish pragmatics. It includes three primary
interactive areas-a house, a plaza and market,
and a university-in which players complete a
series of quests to either make different requests
or apologize in a number of scenarios. See Figure
1 for an image of the host family's home.
The players interact with non-player characters
(NPCs) using a simulated interactive system based
on a variety of discourse maps (see Figure 2) and
can interact with one another or other native
speakers via voice or written chat.
In addition, players can leave one another
asynchronous messages on a bulletin board in the
university, teleport from area to area, and check
their quest log at any time throughout play.
The graphical interface for Croquelandia was
developed based on photographs of the Spanish-
speaking world and the home university where the
first group of users attended Spanish courses. In
addition, sounds and conversations were recorded
in a variety of places to ensure the most viable
immersive space possible.

DeSIgN, ImPLemeNTATION,
& eVALUATION OF mUVeS
IN LANgUAge LeARNINg

Participants

An empirical Case: Croquelandia

The participant group for this study was comprised
of 13 males and 40 females with an average age
of 20.2834 years ( R =18-29) who were students of
Spanish enrolled in four sections of an Advanced
Conversation and Composition course at a univer-
sity in the United States. While the group was not
balanced in terms of gender, it did represent the
typical composition of students in upper-division

In order to better understand how MUVEs, and
more specifically SIEs, can be designed and
implemented effectively in foreign language edu-
cation contexts, a research team designed, built,
implemented, and re-designed the first SIE for
learning how to make requests and apologize in
Spanish: Croquelandia . This section first describes