Language Learner Behaviour in a Virtual Environment
I agree that people behave differently in a virtual environment. We feel more relaxed and the anxiety of using a language to communicate is reduced. Take me as an example, I feel very nervous when I am talking to foreigners in a face-to-face situation. I think I am being assessed and I am afraid that I make a lot of grammatical mistakes in my conversations. But when I am chatting with English speakers on MSN, I feel much easier and more confident as it allows me more time to think. When I come across some new words, I can even look up a dictionary. Also, communication becomes smoother because people will not be distracted by different accents. Based on the above reasons, it is a good idea to let students master a second language through a virtual environment.
However, I have come across a situation which upset me a lot about blog using. Last year, one of my students, Clement learned how to create his own blog in the extra-curriculum class. He then thought that he might use it to communicate with classmates in English on his blog. He hopes it would raise the English standard of the whole class. However, some foul languages were found on the blog and we had to handle some parents’ complaints. Since students can use nick name or pretend to be someone else when they give feedback on the blog, it is very difficult for me to investigate the case. Though I had taught students a lesson after the event, I had to ask the extra-curriculum class teacher to delete the blog for me at last. Deep in my mind, I think if students can’t use the blog properly, they better not to use it. In fact, I prefer using yahoo groups than blogs when having discussions because identification or invitation are needed.
Last but not least, I agree with the conclusion of the article that a virtual environment for language learning may not be ideal for all students.
However, I have come across a situation which upset me a lot about blog using. Last year, one of my students, Clement learned how to create his own blog in the extra-curriculum class. He then thought that he might use it to communicate with classmates in English on his blog. He hopes it would raise the English standard of the whole class. However, some foul languages were found on the blog and we had to handle some parents’ complaints. Since students can use nick name or pretend to be someone else when they give feedback on the blog, it is very difficult for me to investigate the case. Though I had taught students a lesson after the event, I had to ask the extra-curriculum class teacher to delete the blog for me at last. Deep in my mind, I think if students can’t use the blog properly, they better not to use it. In fact, I prefer using yahoo groups than blogs when having discussions because identification or invitation are needed.
Last but not least, I agree with the conclusion of the article that a virtual environment for language learning may not be ideal for all students.
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