Abstract
This article is to report an action research conducted in two sections of a course called Second Language Acquisitionand Development during the fall semester of 2011 and the spring semester of 2012. By focusing on a three-wayblended learning (BL) environment—face-to-face (F2F), eLearning, and Second Life (SL, a virtual-worldenvironment), this study attempts to explore students’ experiences, perceptions, and reflections on multimediatechnology and apply the findings to help improve a second language acquisition course. By conducting 36interviews totally from two semesters (15 from the first semester and 21 from the second semester) as well as 30course observations (20 F2F and 10 SL observations), the result of the study suggests students preferred thecombination of F2F and eLearning. The study concludes that SL application needs to be reevaluated for a better BLinstructional structure in terms of student’s skills, training, high-standard hardware equipment, and design of virtualinstallation in order to effectively integrate it into the course of Second Language Acquisition and Development.
Highlights
The field of second language acquisition (SLA) burgeoned in the early 1960s (Ellis, 1997)
Computer applications in second language acquisition (CASLA) and computer-assisted language learning (CALL) emerged to explore how computers could be utilized in foreign language learning in higher education (Chapelle, 2001)
In order to further improve the blended learning (BL) environment used in the preparation of pre-service language teachers, this study is to explore an experimental three-way BL environment from two semesters
Summary
The field of second language acquisition (SLA) burgeoned in the early 1960s (Ellis, 1997). In the late 1980s, computer-mediated communication (CMC) began to popularize the (English as a Second Language) ESL curriculum (Warschauer & Kern, 2000). By the 1990s the Internet began to influence a variety of perspectives within the field, such as providing access to native or proficient English speakers (Chapelle, 2001). CMC and Internet brought both synchronous (e.g., face-to-face, online chat) and asynchronous (e.g., email, online discussion) applications to SLA learning environments. This was where blended learning (BL) in SLA environments occurred
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