CCE Theses and Dissertations
Campus Access Only
All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of Nova Southeastern University. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher.
Date of Award
2013
Document Type
Dissertation - NSU Access Only
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Computing Technology in Education (DCTE)
Department
Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences
Advisor
Steven Terrell
Committee Member
Martha Snyder
Committee Member
Laurie Dringus
Keywords
Motivation, Second Life, Spanish
Abstract
The ever increasing popularity of virtual worlds, also known as 3-D multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) or simply virtual worlds provides language instructors with a new tool they can exploit in their courses. For now, Second Life is one of the most popular MUVEs used for teaching and learning, and although Second Life was not initially designed as an educational tool, it has developed into one used in higher education institutions worldwide.
In the field of second language acquisition, Second Life could be used to immerse students in the target language and culture. Students can travel to virtual versions of cities or countries where the target language is spoken and engage in meaningful interactions while instructors can track written and spoken linguistic patterns through the program's features.
Virtual worlds appeal to language instructors and computer-assisted language learning (CALL) researchers alike because of the affordances it offers. Yet, there are many areas left to explore. The focus of this study was to measure and evaluate the effects of using the 3-D MUVE Second Life on students' motivation to learn Spanish as a foreign language, and on students' academic achievement and language proficiency. This study incorporated qualitative and quantitative research methods to assess the effects of the treatment (i.e., using Second Life) on each of the variables. Significant differences existed in motivation between the groups; however, academic achievement and language proficiency between the control and experimental groups were very similar.
The researcher used a phenomenological approach to gather and analyze data from student and instructor interviews. This approach helped the researcher understand the effects of using Second Life in a Spanish course by providing insight on students and the instructor's opinions about the virtual world's applicability as a tool for language learning and teaching. Circumlocution, exposure to the target language, finding people and destinations, and technical difficulties, such as the use of voice chat were salient themes during the interviews. Future efforts should focus on improving the design process of activities through the application of instructional design principles to ensure that they provide sufficient guidance and scaffolding for students to develop their language skills.
NSUWorks Citation
María T. Parés-Toral. 2013. The Effect of the Use of the 3-D Multi-user Virtual Environment Second Life on Student Motivation and Language Proficiency in Courses of Spanish as a Foreign Language. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences. (269)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/gscis_etd/269.