The Virtual Learning Environment: The Design of a Website for Language Learning

This paper will attempt to delineate the process of how a website called the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) was created in order to meet the language learning needs of a group of learners at a graduate school in Japan. The main focus of the discussion will be on the factors that influenced the design and evolution of the VLE site. The paper will also highlight the importance of adopting an integrative learner-centred design rationale when the practitioner is faced with the challenge of designing virtual environments for language learning.