SLanguages 2009 Abstracts

www.SLanguages.net

The State of the Nations

Gavin Dudeney et al [ Dudeney Ge ]
With the SLanguages conference now in its third year, I wanted to take the time out to reflect with everyone
in the audience on where we've come from and where we currently are:
- have we developed as in-world teachers over three years?
- what are the current approaches?
- has any research reached maturity?
- where do we go from here?

Writing 101
Iffaf Khan [ Iffaf Ling ]
This talk looks at interactive writing activities in SL

Avalon Learning
Heike Philp [ Gwen Gwasi ]
In January 2009 the AVALON project was awarded EU funding within the Leonardo da Vinci, Transversal
Program. 26 European partners in 8 European countries joined in a development project which will last 2
years. AVALON stands for Access to Virtual and Action Learning live ONline. The partners’ goal is to explore
Second Life for scenario based language learning. A brief 10-min presentation about the latest development
will lead into a discussion as to what scenario based learning really is and how a course for a ‘mobile
worker’ could be designed.

The idea about the mobile worker is, for example, that this person would like to live in a target country (for
example Iceland) in order to work there. To prepare his departure he starts learning the target language and
upon arrival he might be confronted with any of the following situations:
a) a medical emergency
b) looking for a flat
c) bureaucratic paperwork

... apart from needing to go shopping, small talk in a pub and other human needs. For these situations, we
will design a course in Icelandic and all ideas on how to do this are welcome.

LMS-Integrated Holodeck Scenes

Kip Boahn [ Kip Yellowjacket ]
A discussion on/demo of recent integration of the Claroline LMS and the Horizons Holodeck. Focus will be
on the development of future LMS-integrated holodeck scenes - what is possible, desired, etc.

Second Life as an Education Virtual Support

António dos Reis/Xabier Basogain [ Barak Zapatero/Zubiria Rauch ]
SL has been used successfully running during some years as a 3D tool for several branches of activities.
Daniel Goleman, based in its "Emotional intelligence Theory" suggests that, pedagogic games and other
activities using emotional approaches should be used in education. In the other hand our students today, are
mainly digital learners. This it means, that SL has an enormous potential to be used in education process. A
deep reflection, about strong and week points, improvements in the SL technology and "good practices"
recommendations in education environment, is the main purpose of our presentation.

Social Relationships in English City

Jessica Driscoll [ Jessica Teacher ]
How do The English City People characters in English City provide particular areas of language input for
students? How have these relationships between students and the 'characters' facilitated interesting cases
of language in context.

The Project ‘ViTAAL’ revisited: Evaluation & Follow up

Ton Koenraad [ Koen Antonioni ]
In this session we would like to present the results of the evaluation research of the project ViTAAL. The
project, introduced at SLanguages 2008, was an initiative of a partnership of a number of secondary schools
and teacher education institutions, facilitated with a research grant by Kennisnet, the Dutch national
Schoolnet. We will focus on the organizational set-up and the lessons learned in the 2008 pilots realised in
Active Worlds:
- 3D Language Village: a virtual version of a current, real-life assessment practice for lower secondary
education in which student teachers help pupils through virtual role-play and coaching activities to
prepare for and do oral proficiency, performance-oriented assessments.
- The SurReal Quest ‘ Panique à Bord’: this LanguageQuest is situated on a 3D version of the Titanic and
centres on a detective-like problem solving task, involving integrated training of language skills and
triggering interviews with the avatars of the story characters.

Finally we present the project’s further developments. In this context we would like to discuss the definition
of and first ideas for the EU-project Networked Interaction in Foreign Language Acquisition and Research
(NIFLAR, 2009-210). This project aims to develop a pedagogic framework for the design of tasks geared at
optimally exploiting the specific affordances of 3D virtual worlds for the promotion of intercultural
communicative competence.

Second Life Chinese School: Iterative Design for Embodiment and Game Play
Dongping Zheng [ MinnSU Koga ]
In Slanguages 2008, I presented the framework for designing problem-based activities in a virtual world,
Second Life, and outlined how embodied cognition provided an inworld perspective in which learners can be
attuned to an optimal lived in experience during interaction in the game-based Second Life Chinese School.
In this paper I use a design-based research method to systematically examine how new designs change the
environment for interaction with native speakers and among symmetrical interlocutors.

This study stems from data collected during a triad’s one-semester participation in co-questing and role-
playing designed quests in Second Life Chinese School. Using online ethnographic techniques (Erickson,
1986; Hutchins, 1995) and computer-mediated discourse analysis (Herring, 2004), video screen recordings,
in-session and post session semi-structured interviews, and bot-tracked actions data will be systematically
analyzed. The design-based framework will help unfold how the second iterative design cycle came into
action with formative evaluation.

I will also report how beginning Chinese learners develop ability for language use and how identity emerges
with newly recognized affordances on the trajectory of negotiation for meaning and action within the
designed experiences.

Preliminary analysis reveals that static quests in the first cycle served the role of scaffolding learners in
recognizing sentence patterns and solving mini-problems. Tutors played a directing role and learners were
dependent on overt instructions and factual knowledge. Tutors also expressed less excitement than teaching
in a didactic instruction when lessons were prepared by themselves. Second iterative design represented
more of game-like activities that invited learners to undertake quests in buying a gift or searching for a lost
sword, during which non-linear trajectories and real life-like behaviors were demonstrated. Finally I will
make the point that designing for an embodied experience will provide
learners with opportunities in engaging in situated language learning, initiation of turns and creation of new
utterances.

The Ubiquitous classroom

Shiv Rajendra [ Kingsbury Yeats ]
How to leverage Second Life and other social media to immerse your students in Language.

SLoodle 0.4 & Class Management

Paul Preibisch [ Fire Centaur ]
This demobnstration will show educators how they can use SLOODLE for classroom management -
administering quizzes, assignment submittal, and some of SLOODLE 0.4's new tools including: the Sloodle
Presenter, the freemail blogger. If time permits, we will also discuss some of the newer experimental tools in
development as well.

Calisto's Show and Tell: Building An Immersive Environment For Language Learning
James T. Abraham [ Camisto Encinal ]
This presentation will demonstrate some of the innovative ways that the Second Life environment can be
used to create immersive language activities for students. My goal has been to create a virtual study abroad
experience in which students can participate individually, with other students or with their instructor. My
project, San Miguel de Glendale, is an attempt to make this goal a reality. It features many levels of
interactivity from simple click/receive information activities to interactive dialog using artificial intelligence.
Visitors will also be treated to an appearance of Peperito, the talking Mariachi chile pepper HUD that guides
students in San Miguel. Attendees will gain creative new ideas about the types of activities that can be built
using Second Life which can be applied as they seek to develop their own language learning environment.

How Many Points Do I Get for Finding the Volcano?: Toward a New Pedagogy for the Virtual World
Gloria B. Clark [ Gloria Almendros ]
Pedagogy, most would say, has roots in the practical; its feet, so to speak, are firmly on the ground. For
instance, we are concerned with how we get our students to that last day of class with the knowledge that
we feel is necessary for them to have succeeded in our discipline. How do we share that knowledge in the
most efficient, the most direct way? What are the objectives and what is the plotted trajectory to get there?
There are standards to consider, syllabi to follow and outcomes assessment to plan for. Language study is
serious business. Our students often find a classroom that is pre-planned and programmed; the path is laid
out, they need only follow it.

Second Life can change that path, with the many worlds it provides to explore and experience. This new
venture needs a new pedagogy, one that does not depend on overused techniques from the past. Instead of
adapting old methods to this new technology, it is time to re-think our approach. I have been using Second
Life in my Spanish classes for over two years now, and have begun to develop a pedagogy that addresses
the opportunities and needs of students in the virtual classroom. I am now moving to theorize my Second
Life pedagogy and understand its place in the Foreign Language classroom. My presentation will highlight
some of the shared experiences I have enjoyed with students in the basic language classroom and include
my reflections on the pedagogy that supports our course goals.

Real Benefit of Chinese Immersive Learning in Second Life

Bingxin Chi [ Mayia Seesaw ]
3j Chinese School, as a complete virtual world, is one of the representatives of in-world language instruction
institution. This school merges in Second Life in 2007, and provides Chinese Courses for all the non-native
speakers of the Chinese language (Chinese Mandarin) in the world. This proposal gives a detailed
introduction of 3i Chinese School and share experience it gained in two years’ teaching and running.

Dogme ELT as a Pedagogy for Language Education in Virtual Worlds

Howard Vickers [ Howie Yokishawa ]
The Dogme ELT movement promotes the use of real life materials in the language classroom as a basis for
stimulating communication to promote opportunities for language learning. And as such Dogme ELT
questions the use of conventional textbooks. Language coursebooks have anyhow yet to appear in virtual
worlds such as Second Life, so how can language educators draw on this methodology for their in-world
teaching?
- What is Dogme ELT and where is it of most relevance for language education in virtual worlds?
- Examples of virtual world based activities that draw on the Dogme ELT principles.
- How can virtual world activities be integrated into online or offline classes?

The presentation will draw on recent blog articles (below) although it will focus on virtual worlds rather than
web 2.0 in general.
- http://www.avatarlanguages.com/blog/dogme-elt-web20-dogme20/
- http://www.avatarlanguages.com/blog/relevance-dogme-web-20/

She's not a real avatar? Learning without teachers in virtual reality

Sally Langer [ Salsita Almendros ]
This seminar will look at the informal learning program inside Languagelab's English City, in particular - the
rationale behind creating a group of characters to populate the city and interact with learners
- the evolution of this program from a functional basis to character & plot driven scenarios to the addition
of non teacher delivered tasks & activities
- What are the key success factors in this system and how can it draw the sting from loneliness some of
the negatives of real immersion (loneliness, isolation) while providing many of its benefits?
- To what extent is the program's success a function of the activity program directly? To what extent does
success stem from the ability to enable greater self confidence, community and relationship building
among students?

Blended Learning - Second Life in the Real Life Classroom

Tan Li Wee [ Liwei Velde ]
General Paper is a compulsory subject in Singapore’s Junior College education. It requires students to
analyse and evaluate issues across disciplines, as well as to express informed opinions and a maturity of
thought. However, this has posed to be a challenge given students’ limited life experiences. Through Second
Life’s immersive environment, it can help to provide stimuli to invoke responses through role playing in
fantasy environments. Hence, helping students to gain multiple perspectives and enhance their ability to
craft cogent arguments.

An Introduction to Scripting
Gavin Dudeney [ Dudeney Ge ]
This practical workshop is designed for those participants who would like to start scripting, but don't know
exactly where to start. We will examine the basics of SL scripting before moving on to apply them in a couple
of useful tools. Full guide and examples will be given out during the session.

Making Audio Posters for Vocabulary Practice

Carol Rainbow [ Carolrb Roux ]
This workshop will enable delegates to create image resources that language learners can interact with to
hear vocabulary items. Aimed at beginners, all resources needed, as well as extras for further development,
will be provided in the session. During the session participants will learn how to make a poster board, add an
appropriate texture, adapt a script to make it play a sound file and add it to the poster. The last part of the
workshop will show how to quickly produce new vocabulary items based on this model.

Provided during the session:

- Sample English sound files including days of the week, season, months & numbers
- Textures corresponding to the sound files
- Touch and step-on scripts for interaction
- Notecards explaining the process for the touch script in English and Spanish
- A notecard explaining where to download Audacity and how to use it to create appropriate sound files
for SL
- Posters explaining the process to put up in the workshop area
- Examples for delegates to try out, and freebies to take away

All about HUDs

James T. Abraham [ Calisto Encinal ]
In this workshop we will look at the theory and practice of building HUDs (Heads Up Displays) and will make
a simple one that listens for - and reacts to - user input. No prior knowledge of scripting is assumed.

Learning Spanish: A Demo Class

Dafne González/Cristina Palomeque [ Daf Smirnov/Cristina Papp ]
In order to show how Spanish is being taught in Languagelab.com, the presenters will invite the audience to
participate in a team-taught Spanish class. Then there will be time for questions and answers regarding the
different aspects of the class.

Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition

Kate Boardman [ Kattan Hurnung ]
One of the most valuable aspects of Second Life is to be able to experience environments that you might not
otherwise be able to. One of the most valuable aspects of technology, in learning, has been the potential to
create and provide authentic resources to students who cannot travel to or be admitted into museums,
professional environments etc. Having spent 3 years working on an international research project to digitize
the Bayeux Tapestry, it seems to me that despite its smaller scale than e.g. the Sistine Chapel, the Bayeux
Tapestry is one of the great cultural artifacts of the Middle Ages that could be presented in SL to be visited
virtually. Turning pages in a large format full color book is not the same as walking around the real thing. A
zoomable digital exhibit might just take you one step closer. This visit will include an introduction to the
embroidery, its history and importance, and an audio guide will be provided to delegates with a full
commentary.

Language Teacher Training in Second Life

Nergiz Kern et al
This panel discussion will present the experiences from a 6-week online workshop organised through
TESOL's 'Electronic Village Online' and aimed at introducing educators to best practice in learning and
teaching languages in virtual worlds (http://vwll.pbwiki.com/Course-Outline) Over 220 registrants signed up
for the free workshop in Jan and Feb 2009. The team of four co-facilitators used both web 2.0 and virtual
world platforms in helping a large number of participants in their journey from account creation to team
teaching a practice lesson over the 6-week period. This presentation will begin by describing the
experiences and evaluations from the perspectives of the participants and the facilitators and then we will
have a guided discussion on the best ways of using Second Life for teaching and learning languages.

La Democratización de la Creatividad y la Producción Cultural en los Mundos Virtuales: un Reto

para la Regulación
Marco Chavez [ Brent Renard ]
La producción cultural es algo que se lleva a cabo en todos lados constantemente, pero fenómenos como
SL permiten que la gente además de crear, pueda dar a conocer a más gente su trabajo sin necesidad de
depender de intermediarios como productores, editores o empresas. SL es una plataforma que propicia un
entorno creativo, dado que su esencia es estar siendo creado permanentemente por los usuarios, y que los
demás usuarios gocen de las creaciones de los demás. No obstante, este entorno pone en cuestión las
formas de regulación que tienen las normas reales respecto a la protección de los contenidos.

Second Life as a Social Learning Environment

Howard Vickers/Pierre Moussy [ Howie Yoshikawa/Mieszko Beck ]
Second Life offers language learners a place for meeting others to practice a foreign language. This two-
part presentation hears from a language learner about his experiences in Second Life and from a language
educator about the lessons learned for encouraging conversation practice in virtual worlds.
- What are the advantages of using Second Life for conversation practice?
- What are the experiences of language learners? What are their motivations?
- Where do they see limitations to this approach? What are the differences between the in-world voice
system and text chatting?
- What can we learn from learners about how best to promote fluency through conversation practice in
Second Life?

Virtual Tourism: Self-directed CLIL in Second Life

Graham Stanley [ Graham Netizen ]
First, I will present the experience of organising a short course for undergraduate students of Tourism using
Second Life for self-directed CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) - how it was organised and
what the reaction of the students was. This will be followed by a field trip to some of the spaces visited by
students on the course, with the same tasks, giving the participants a similar experience to the students.
Finally, conclusions will be presented and participants will be given the oppostunity to ask questions.

The Classroom is Dead - Long Live the Classroom

Paul Sweeney [ Head Teacher ]
Given the potential for self directed language learning in a muve, what is the role of the classroom? This
talk, illustrated by several years of experience in Languagelab, will look at:
- the value of recreating the 'traditional' classroom in a muve
- different phases of 'classroom deconstruction' over 18 months in Languagelab
- the role of the teacher / guide / instructor / facilitator in supporting semi-formal and informal learning in
muves
- how student expectations of the above role can change according to what other learning activities they
are participating in.
- guidelines for good practice