Implementing the use of Virtual Worlds in the teaching of foreign languages

Resumen

Since Virtual Worlds (VWs) have been recognized as a powerful tool in education, they have been attracting the interest of many educational institutions and instructors. Our paper intends to explore the possibilities of using Virtual Worlds in foreign language teaching, focusing specifically on the A1 level (CEFR) of German language learners. The present researchdemonstrates the authors’ experiences with the design of several gamelike applications in a 3D virtual environment as well as their benefits for the teaching and learning process. The paper commences with a short analysisof the specific features of videogames. It then continues by outlining the advantages of integrating them into Virtual Learning Platforms. The aim of this analysis is to explore new ways of guaranteeing a highly interactive, motivating and effective learning environment, not only in face-to-face teaching, but also in the autonomous online learning process. The latter is considered to be complementary to, rather than different from the dynamic of the face-to-face learning situation. Our work combines theoretical research in language learning with a number of empirical studies using a 3D virtual gameenvironment to measure the effectiveness of videogame-like applications on foreign language learning. Finally, the paper concludes with an empirical evaluation of different language learning sessions in which students played the videogame-like application we had designed for this research project.