A Collaborative Virtual Environment for Situated Language Learning Using VEC3D

A 3D virtually synchronous communication architecture for situated language learning has been designed to foster communicative competence among undergraduate students who have studied English as a foreign language (EFL). We present an innovative approach that offers better e-learning than the previous virtual reality educational applications. The proposed method supplies learners with autonomy in virtual communications, allowing learners to achieve a variety of shared goals. The traditional text-based or web-based virtual reality systems are generally less attractive to students because of their lack of 3D immersion and realtime voice interaction. Three-D virtual reality technology can be exploited to compensate these weaknesses. We propose an immersive and interactive virtual English classroom, entitled VEC3D, that integrates a goal-based instructional design, vivid 3D graphics, and real-time voice communication. The ultimate goal of the VEC3D project is to enhance learners’ English communicative competence. This research determines how learners perceive their experiences in the virtual space and use communication strategies (CSs) in the process of advancing communicative competence. The recent ethnographic study results revealed that the proposed application promoted positive student attitude and interactive learning experiences.

[1]  Leslie J. Briggs,et al.  Principles of Instructional Design , 1974 .

[2]  Karl J. Krahnke.  The Natural Approach: Language Acquisition in the Classroom , 1985 .

[3]  M. Swain,et al.  THEORETICAL BASES OF COMMUNICATIVE APPROACHES TO SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING AND TESTING , 1980 .

[4]  Gabriele Kasper,et al.  Strategies in interlanguage communication , 1983 .

[5]  Jill Pellettieri,et al.  Network-based Language Teaching: Negotiation in cyberspace: The role of chatting in the development of grammatical competence , 2000 .

[6]  Ming-Shiou Kuo,et al.  Adaptive networked learning environments using learning objects, learner profiles and inhabited virtual learning worlds , 2005, Fifth IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT'05).

[7]  Vivian Zamel,et al.  The Ethnography of Communication: An Introduction , 1984 .

[8]  Roger C. Schank,et al.  A goal-based scenario for high school students , 1996, CACM.

[9]  Carolina Cruz-Neira,et al.  Distributed virtual reality using Octopus , 2001, Proceedings IEEE Virtual Reality 2001.

[10]  Kouichi Matsuda,et al.  Community Place: architecture and performance , 1997, VRML '97.

[11]  Luke S. Zettlemoyer,et al.  Habitable 3D Learning Environments for Situated Learning , 1998, Intelligent Tutoring Systems.

[12]  Andrew Lian,et al.  Communicative competence: Theory and classroom practice , 1985 .

[13]  S. Krashen.  Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning , 1988 .

[14]  John Wesley Powell.  Introduction to the study of Indian languages, with words, phrases and sentences to be collected; by J.W. Powell. , 1877 .

[15]  Margaret Corbit.  Building Virtual Worlds for Informal Science Learning (SciCentr and SciFair) in the Active Worlds Educational Universe (AWEDU) , 2002, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[16]  Roger C. Schank.  Every Curriculum Tells a Story. , 2002 .

[17]  Ivan Tomek.  The design and implementation of a MOO , 2000, J. Netw. Comput. Appl..

[18]  Christos Bouras,et al.  Architectures supporting e-learning through collaborative virtual environments: the case of INVITE , 2001, Proceedings IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies.

[19]  Monica Divitini,et al.  Supporting learning communities with collaborative virtual environments: : Different spatial metaphors , 2002 .

[20]  Yee Wei. Law,et al.  NECTAR: Simulation and Visualization in a 3D Collaborative Environment , 2002 .

[21]  Chih-Min Shih.  The General English Proficiency Test , 2008 .

[22]  우종우,et al.  [해외 연구소 소개]「The Institute for the Learning Sciences」 , 1996 .

[23]  George A. Miller,et al.  Language and Communication , 1951 .

[24]  任耀.  The Input Hypothesis及其在外语教学中的应用 , 1993 .

[25]  Christos Bouras,et al.  e-Learning through distributed virtual environments , 2001, J. Netw. Comput. Appl..

[26]  Mark Warschauer,et al.  Network-Based Language Teaching: Concepts and Practice , 2000 .

[27]  神保 尚武.  言語運用能力(Communicative Competence) , 1987 .

[28]  Dell Hymes,et al.  The concept of communicative competence revisited , 1992 .

[29]  James O. Carey,et al.  The systematic design of instruction , 1978 .

[30]  R. Thiede.  Network-based Language Teaching Concepts and Practice , 2005 .