Abstract
This paper conducted a content analysis of studies in language learning in three dimensional multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) that were published in four journals from 2003 to 2012. A total of 23 articles were cross-analyzed by categories including research topics, target languages, technology usage, and research methodology to identify some of the research issues and limitations in the research area. It was found that research in communication was the most explored topic in MUVEs, and the 3D virtual world tool Second Life was the most widely used in language learning. However, the list of research topics and studying languages were rather limited. Thus, there are definitely needed more studies to enrich the research area. We hope that this paper can involve more language researchers in 3D MUVEs to provide students input- and output-rich and immersive environment where learning can be appealing, meaningful, and fun.
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Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, R.O.C., for financially supporting this research under Grant Nos. NSC 101-2511-S-003-031-MY3 and MOST 103-2628-S-003-002-MY3. They are also thankful that this research is partially supported by the Aim for the Top University Project and Center of Learning Technology for Chinese of National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Taiwan, R.O.C., the International Research-Intensive Center of Excellence Program of NTNU and the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, R.O.C. under Grant No. NSC 103-2911-I-003-301.
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Lin, TJ., Lan, YJ., Kan, YH. (2015). Research Trends of Language Learning in Virtual Reality from 2003 to 2012: A Content Analysis. In: Chiu, D., et al. Advances in Web-Based Learning – ICWL 2013 Workshops. ICWL 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 8390. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-46315-4_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-46315-4_8
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