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foreign language and this discovery strengthens
our belief in the huge potential that Second Life
has for language education, an area certainly
requiring further research.
in within such an environment tend to “enhance
participants' intercultural literacy” (Diehl &
Prins, 2008).
Diehl and Prins (2008) used a mixed methods
approach, based on interviews, field notes, and
surveys. They took a random sample of 30 par-
ticipants from various backgrounds by meeting
them through the virtual world itself or through
blogs. The survey in the Diehl and Prins' study
included questions about the activities residents
participated in Second Life, such as the time
spent, length of participation, events attended,
what they had learned in SL, and questions about
their real life, which included questions about
their appearance, characteristics, “national origin,
languages spoken, gender educational attainment,
and cultural contacts.” Diehl and Prins used Hey-
ward's model of intercultural literacy and Cultural
Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to analyze the
open-ended responses from their survey regarding
the construction of their participants' identity and
literacy within the virtual world. In addition, one of
the researchers observed avatars in several public
areas for 70 hours to examine people's cultural
backgrounds and cross-cultural interactions, and
conducted interviews through the environment's
own instant messaging system. The results show
that the majority of users can speak more than
one language, are friends with other residents
from other cultures, and have learned about other
cultures in Second Life. It needs to be further
researched that the participants' group identity
formation through the engagement of activities
within 3-D virtual environments.
Recommendations for Foreign
Language Teaching in SL
As analyzed previously, the possible reasons for
the popularity of SL in foreign language teaching
are the cultural contexts of the target languages and
platform to enhance communicative competence
that are provided by SL. Therefore, first, foreign
language instructors should include audiovisual
components in social environments in SL for stu-
dents to interact with teachers and other students.
Foreign language teaching in SL should focus on
communicative and contextual factors in language
use. Second, like other SL courses, the foreign
language classes in SL should be learners-centered
and task-based. Students can talk with real people
in the foreign language and complete real com-
munication within the virtual world. The aim is
to mimic face to face communication, both in
terms of the social functions and the information
conveying functions, through creating a genuine
need to communicate (www.avatarenglish.com).
ReSeARCH ON SOCIAL
FACTORS IN SL IN eDUCATION
Cultural Identities and Cross-
Cultural Communication in SL
Legal and ethical Issues in SL
William C. Diehl and Esther Prins (2008) stud-
ied on intercultural literacy and cultural identity
regarding Second Life participants called “Un-
intended Outcomes in Second Life: Intercultural
Literacy and Cultural Identity in a Virtual World.”
The study examines Second Life (SL) residents
in general and their view of identity within SL
through the “activity system” they participate in.
In other words, the activities instructors participate
The difference s between virtual worlds and the
real world often blur the proper application of laws
and ethical standards. Authors have noted that in
the computer-based simulated environment some
users seem to detach themselves from the fear of
“real world” consequences. These users engage in
such inappropriate behavior as illegal file-sharing
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