Foreign Language Instruction in a Virtual Environment: - Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments - page 319

as the students, the teacher could just say the
question out loud.

memory to the long-term memory. In con-
sequence, the material is strengthened and
learners gain more fluency (Spolsky, 1989).
[Th3] “Virtual Clickers” . The use of the IM
feature to quickly elicit student responses
could be referred to as “virtual clickers”.
Thanks to this kind of activity, instructors
have an instant way of knowing whether the
material has been covered sufficiently and if
the students are ready to proceed to the next
step. This is essential for language learning
because with certain material (grammar, in
particular), not being proficient with basic
concepts makes it impossible to continue
with more complex concepts. This activity
lets teachers immediately see whether re-
medial steps are required. If teachers do not
receive sufficiently correct responses from
their students, it is a sign that the material
needs further attention. Then it would be
necessary to review it, recognize the “missing
link” and take remedial steps before diving
into deeper waters.
[Th4] Self-monitoring . Even though it appears
as a simple question-answer activity, the
logging features of SL make this exercise
much more useful than a regular chat. SL
allows for logging both conversations and
chats, which can be helpful for both students
and teachers to keep track of all utterances
produced. Consequently, this logging feature
helps a student to self-monitor oneself. Since
self-monitoring allows for “higher efficacy,
skill, and persistence, compared with no
monitoring” (Schunk, 2008, p.62), we view
this logging feature of SL as a particularly
convenient, easy, feasible, and inexpensive
tool to use.

Advantages
First, all students have a chance to review or
practice their knowledge at the same time. No one
is left out. Second, it is a fast-paced activity so
it does not require a lot of time. Further, it keeps
students alert and on their toes. Third, this type
of activity allows for revision or/and practice of
factual as well as procedural knowledge, as both
of them are important prerequisites of higher level
learning (Bloom,1956).

Limitations
It is a fast-paced activity and not all the students
like speed. Some prefer a longer time for reflec-
tion or self-confirmation of the answer before
they type the answers.

Theoretical Underpinnings: Activity #7

[Th1] Situated Cognition . It can be claimed that the
same activity can be done in other types of
chats, for example in Skype Chat. However,
we suggest that using the chat feature in
Second Life can be more advantageous for
learning. This is because, prior to the quizzes,
the teacher can establish a relevant setting
for a more highly contextualized environ-
ment for the quizzes. For example, if the
quizzes cover the topic of food, students can
be invited to a (in this case, German-style)
tavern, and while seated at the Tisch and
while “eating” Wurst and “drinking” Bier
they can answer the teacher's questions on
food vocabulary. “Being present” at a tavern
makes more effective context for the conver-
sation about food than sitting in a classroom
and simply imagining being there.
[Th2] Automaticity . Thanks to this task, learners
can practice automatic responses to stimuli.
Such exercise provides ways to speed up
the transition of material from short-term

As a follow-up, after students write their an-
swers, teachers may choose to provide immediate
feedback by either typing the correct answer in
Local Chat, typing it in IM, stating it via Voice
Chat, or just (if present in the classroom) by say-