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Virtual world anonymity and foreign language oral interaction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2018

Sabela Melchor-Couto
Sabela Melchor-Couto*
Affiliation:
University of Roehampton, UK (email: [email protected])
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Abstract

In recent years, a considerably high number of research studies have looked into the use of virtual worlds (VWs) for language learning. A number of authors have hypothesised about the effects of anonymity when foreign language interactions are conducted via VWs. This study addresses the effect that the anonymity experienced in VW interaction may have on participants that present different affective profiles. The participants are 18 students (five male, 13 female) aged between 19 and 20 years old and registered in a Spanish undergraduate degree at the University of Roehampton (London). They were involved in four tandem oral interaction activities in the VW Second Life with a group of native Spanish students from the Universidad de Cádiz (Spain). A mixed-methods research design with quantitative and qualitative data was applied. Data were collected about the participants’ foreign language anxiety (FLA) levels, self-efficacy beliefs, and psychological profile (introvert/extrovert). Participants were also asked to answer three open-ended questions about how they felt during the interaction in the VW. The results obtained reveal a strong relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and the anonymity effect experienced by students, although no correlation was found between the participants’ FLA levels or personality profiles and their experience of the anonymity afforded by the VW.

Keywords

anonymityvirtual worldSecond Lifeforeign language anxietyself-efficacy beliefspersonality
Type
Regular papers
Information
ReCALL , Volume 30 , Special Issue 2: Interactions for language learning in and around virtual worlds , May 2018 , pp. 232 - 249
Copyright
Copyright © European Association for Computer Assisted Language Learning 2018 

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