Speaker
Description
This action research study examined first-year English - majored students’ oral participation in speaking activities conducted on Second Life Virtual World – an online 3D platform which has been widely used for educational purpose around the world. Participants included 19 first-year university students whose level of English proficiency ranging from Upper intermediate to Advanced. Over the period of five weeks, the participants were scheduled to practice their speaking skills on Second Life in different group sizes, undertaking various activities such as discussion, individual sharing or field trips, etc. Three instruments namely students’ journal, group interview, and individual interview were adopted as data collection methods. The research findings indicated a moderate to high level of engagement with a majority of participants reporting increased willingness to orally express their opinions thanks to the friendly, stress-free atmosphere of SL. Shy students were revealed to have benefitted most from oral practice in the 3D environment on account of the absence of non-verbal reactions. However, technical issues encountered by participants during the implementation of this innovation were revealed to be overwhelming and adversely affected participants’ engagement. For future implementation of this innovation, small class size, better technical guidance and use of small group discussion/ sharing, pronunciation practice and virtual field trips as main activities were suggested.
