Second Life, Second Language

I must begin with a confession. I constantly mocked the idea of going onto Second Life, that is until I explored the program and lost many hours of my Real Life. I must admit that I've become quite the fan of Second Life.

Music (playing and appreciating) has always been a large part of my (real) life, so I decided to explore some of the locations geared towards music. I am now in a couple of 'groups' on Second Life and am informed of Second Life 'events' in the Mod/Soul music scene. (New Wavers, Shoegazers, and Brit-Poppers...you're next!)

Aside from music, teaching ESL has become a central part of my life. I can see how Second Life (SL) could be useful for music fans and second language learners/instructors alike (ESL and otherwise). As an instructor, I believe that language learning is easier when it is contextualized around topics of interest to the learners. On Second Life, a language learner can visit different 'locations' that they find interesting and practice the four skills of speaking and listening (with voice chatting) and reading and writing (with typed chatting). Instructors and students can 'meet' on Second Life and explore places together (e.g. museums, tourist sites, etc.) and talk about them over voice-chat and use the typed-chat feature for clarification of spelling, etc.

Some students may not be comfortable with the idea of being seen over a webcam. This issue is resolved by the fact that, on Second Life, you have an avatar in place of your actual appearance. The anonymity could help in lowering affect, although one's facial expressions and gestures would not be visible (i.e. unless the Second Life participant is quite savvy with the 'gesture' feature). In addition, some students just may not be interested in this kind of format for language learning or have access to a computer that is powerful enough to deal with the program.

With lowered affect AND contextualization around any topic of interest, I think that Second Life is a win/win. However, I would encourage SL participants to set an alarm clock. One's Second Life may take over one's Real Life very easily. Consider yourself forewarned.

Question(s):
How would you use Second Life in language instruction?

Signing off,
Ladybird SecretSpy