Foreign language vocabulary development through activities in an online 3D environment

On-line virtual 3D worlds offer the opportunity for users to interact in real time with native speakers of the language they are learning. In principle, this ought to be of great benefit to learners, and mimicking the opportunity for immersion that real-life travel to a foreign country offers. We have very little research to show whether this is the case, however, nor how best to take advantage of virtual travel for foreign language development. This paper investigates the vocabulary environment and learning among learners in the Vill@ge virtual learning environment in Second Life. It appears that outside controlled learning activities, the lexical environment is poor and offers little opportunity for lexical growth. However, there is some evidence that learners, even in a short space of time, can improve their speed of language interaction and their fluency, and in focussed vocabulary-learning activities uptake was good and comparable with more traditional vocabulary-learning activities.