Lost in Second Life: Virtual Embodiment and Language Learning via Multimodal Communication
ARTICLE
Sarah Pasfield-Neofitou, Hui Huang, Scott Grant
Educational Technology Research and Development Volume 63, Number 5, ISSN 1042-1629
Abstract
Increased recognition of the role of the body and environment in cognition has taken place in recent decades in the form of new theories of embodied and extended cognition. The growing use of ever more sophisticated computer-generated 3D virtual worlds and avatars has added a new dimension to these theories of cognition. Both developments provide new opportunities for exploring new ways of facilitating language acquisition in the foreign language classroom environment. In this article, through two case studies we examine student interaction in a virtual environment customised for foreign language learning to examine "virtually" embodied and extended cognition. Our examination identifies two particular features of this combination of mind, (virtual) body and (virtual) environment that further underline the potential of 3D virtual worlds as sites for embodied and extended cognition: students often do not distinguish between themselves and their avatars; the boundaries between the real and virtual environments are highly (cognitively) permeable.
Citation
Pasfield-Neofitou, S., Huang, H. & Grant, S. (2015). Lost in Second Life: Virtual Embodiment and Language Learning via Multimodal Communication. Educational Technology Research and Development, 63(5), 709-726. Retrieved January 17, 2021 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/175360/.

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View References & Citations Map-
Exploring the Embodied Interactive Learning Effects – Designing an Instructional Scenario with Unity3D and Kinect V2 Sensor
Xinhao Xu, Fengfeng Ke & Dan Huang, Florida State University, United States
EdMedia + Innovate Learning 2016 (Jun 28, 2016) pp. 1618–1623
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