Cross-cultural discussions in a 3D virtual environment and their affordances for learners motivation and foreign language discussion skills

EUROCALL Conference, Padova, 26-29 August 2015

Kristi Jauregi1 2, Leena Kuure3, Pim Bastian1, Dennis Reinhardt1 &Tuomo Koivisto3

Utrecht University, NetherlandsFontys University of Applied Sciences, NetherlandsUniversity of Oulu, Finland

Cross-cultural discussions in a 3D virtual environment and their affordances for learners motivation and foreign language discussion skills

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Research context (TILA, Open Sims)ParticipantsTasksData collectionFocus of analysisFindingsConclusionStructure of the presentation

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Research context

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TILA 2013-2015

4Languages: English, French, German, Spanish & Catalan

Countries represented by:Teacher training institutionsSecondary schools

TelecollaborationInterculturalLanguageAcquisition

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(1) to innovate, enrich and make FLT more meaningful by integrating telecollaboration activities in secondary schools across Europe;

(2) to empower (student) teachers and assist them in developing ICT literacy skills as well as organisational, pedagogical and intercultural competences to guarantee adequate integration of telecollaboration practices; and

(3) to study the added value of telecollaborationProject goals5

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(A)synchronous communication in TILA6

ForumBlogWikiMoodle

PrivacySafe environmentMinors

Chat

Synchronous and asynchronous telecollaboration6

Case study

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GROUP C

6 Dutch pupils

GROUP A

3 Dutch pupils3 Finnish pupils GROUP B

3 Dutch pupils3 Finnish pupils 18 participants from the Netherlands and Finland1518 years of ageroughly on level B2 (CEFR)

Participants

All pupils participated in a specifically designed discussion task series, with 5 tasks in total and a tutorial at the start.

Tasks

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All pupils participated in a specifically designed discussion task series, with 5 tasks in total and a tutorial at the start.

Tasks

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Pre- and post- tests on discussion abilitySurveysRecorded interactionsInterviews

Diverse types of data

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Focus of analysisThe impact of the role tasks(Gonzlez Lloret & Ortega, 2014; Jauregi et al., 2011)The presence of peers from another culture on the pupils discussion skills, engagement and motivation (Geer, 2002; Deutschmann et al., 2009; Jauregi et al., 2012) Multimodal aspects of actions and interactions in the virtual environment were examined (Jones, 2005; Norris, 2011)

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The development of discussion skills

Findings

+0.3+0.7+0.7

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The pupils engagement and motivationVirtual worldsFindingsItemsFinnishDutchDutch C MSDMSDMSDOpenSim is useful as a tool.3.80.43.80.84.00.0OpenSim worked well during the experiment.3.01.13.21.03.20.8The audio worked during all the sessions: I could hear other people well.2.80.82.51.42.60.5I felt comfortable in OpenSim: I could move and act the way I wanted.3.80.84.70.54.20.4If you had had the possibility to carry out the tasks face-to-face, would you have preferred this option to using OpenSim?1.71.81.80.82.80.4

5 point Likert-scale (1 strongly disagree 5 strongly agree)

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The pupils engagement and motivationSelf-Efficacy (1)FindingsI am confident about my English speaking skills. - 0,5Dutch pupils communicating with Finnish peers and the Dutch control group become more confident on their speaking skills, while the Finnish pupils become less confident after the TC sessions. (5 point Likert-scale)

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The pupils engagement and motivationSelf-Efficacy (2)FindingsI am confident about my English discussion skills.-0,4+ 1Dutch pupils communicating with Finnish peers become much more confident on their discussion skills, than the control Dutch group, while the Finnish pupils become less confident after the TC sessions. (5 point Likert-scale)

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The pupils engagement and motivationAnxiety (1)Findings+0.7-1.3-1.2Anxiety to speak English diminishes significantly for the Dutch pupils communicating with the Finnish peers and for the control Dutch group, while anxiety increases for the Finnish pupils after the TC sessions. (5 point Likert-scale)

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The pupils engagement and motivationAnxiety (2)FindingsI feel very uneasy whenever I make a mistake while speaking English. The anxiety for making mistakes while speaking English diminishes for the Dutch pupils communicating with the Finnish peers and for the control Dutch group, while anxiety increases a little bit for the Finnish pupils. (5 point Likert-scale)+0.2-0.6-0.5

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The pupils engagement and motivationAnxiety (3)

FindingsI feel very uneasy whenever I do not understand what is being said in English The anxiety for not being able to understand what is being said in English diminishes for all pupils, but particularly for the Dutch pupils communicating with the Finnish peers. (5 point Likert-scale)-0.5-0.1-0.2

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The pupils engagement and motivationTasksFindingsItemsFinnishDutchDutch (C)I enjoyed participating in the following tasks:MSDMSDMSDTask 1: Campsite3.80.43.31.53.40.9Task 2: Church3.80.42.71.23.80.4Task 3: Airport/Vacation3.70.53.30.82.60.9Task 4: Police station3.30.54.20.44.00.7Task 5: Courthouse3.21.24.00.94.60.5The tasks were harder than assignments in my English class.4.01.12.00.62.01.0

5 point Likert-scale (1 strongly disagree 5 strongly agree)

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The pupils engagement and motivationProjectFindingsItemsFinnishDutchDutch (C)How do you value the project?MSDMSDMSDI would like to participate in a similar project again in the future3.21.04.00.04.60.5I would recommend other pupils to participate in a similar project.3.21.04.00.04.80.4

5 point Likert-scale (1 strongly disagree 5 strongly agree)

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Multimodality

In everyday (inter)actions, social actors orchestrate a range of multiple modes of communication to accomplish various higher-level actions simultaneously, whereby they (co)produce their identities. (Norris, 2011)

EuroCALL 2015 Padua, Italy

Identities, multimodal resources

The pupilsMembers of their local classroomPlayers in the assigned OS events Team membersLanguage learnersTutors (support to other pupils andtroubleshooting)PeersThe organising studentsStudent teachers TeachersTutorsTechnical supportColleagues Project membersActors taking roles in the projectMultimodal resources3D design/place e.g., layout; signsAvatars e.g., clothing; appearanceTechnology e.g., indicating quality problems of the connection or voice; application functionalities(Inter)action e.g., movement, pointing, posture, position, gesture, gaze, talk

EuroCALL 2015 Padua, Italy

Multimodality

The project involves a complex configuration of aspects that the participants need to attend toParticipationSurvival LearningGrowing expertise

Technology (3D environment)New meeting/project/learning practicesEncounters with distant participantsEnglish learning (NofM about the "task"Living OS (immersion in the activities)Learning OS (meta-level activities)Identity work (blurring of roles)

EuroCALL 2015 Padua, Italy

Layered simultaneity in situ

WORKING IN A PROJECTLEARNING ENGLISH IN THE CLASSROOMUSING SOCIAL MEDIA AND GAMING(Blommaert, 2005, Scollon & Scollon, 2004)DOING THINGS IN A 3D ENVIRONMENTSTUDYING ENGLISH WITH NON-FINNISH-SPEAKERS

DEALING WITH TECHNOLOGY

BEING INVOLVED IN ROLE-TAKINGSPEAKING WITH INTERNATIONAL INTERLOCUTORS

The discussion experience in 3D virtual worlds was experienced as enjoyable (even if there was no partner from abroad)

Open Sims collaboration seemed to provide a fruitful environment for improving discussion skills

In Lingua Franca telecollaboration, participants with lower proficiency levels may benefit from the opportunity to work with peers with a similar proficiency level (in the case of a project that requires constant negotiation of meaning)

Conclusions

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Thank you for your attention!!Join us at: www.tilaproject.euTilaproject@tilaprojecttila@uu.nl

Leena.kuure@oulu.fik.jauregi@uu.nl

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