ERIC Number: EJ1160123
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 16
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1449-5554
EISSN: N/A
Eco-Dialogical Learning and Translanguaging in Open-Ended 3D Virtual Learning Environments: Where Place, Time, and Objects Matter
Zheng, Dongping; Schmidt, Matthew; Hu, Ying; Liu, Min; Hsu, Jesse
Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, v33 n5 p107-122 2017
The purpose of this research was to explore the relationships between design, learning, and translanguaging in a 3D collaborative virtual learning environment for adolescent learners of Chinese and English. We designed an open-ended space congruent with ecological and dialogical perspectives on second language acquisition. In such a space, sense-making is contingent on the relational dynamics of place, activities, and artefacts. These spaces encourage meaning-making in situ, manipulation of virtual objects within places, and coordination among players. Our investigation looked at how learners of Chinese and English collaborated on a project in which they decorated a virtual living room. The findings suggest that socioculturally bounded places afford unique learning opportunities. Firstly, learning occurred through "referencing", which is the mutual clarification of a virtual object's meaning, position, and function, in relatively stabilised places, such as a museum, and secondly, learning occurred through coordination between verbal instruction and object manipulation in more adaptive places, which we call eco-dialogical learning. We also found a strong relationship between translanguaging and object manipulation. We conclude the paper from the perspective of how the eco-dialogical model resulted in designs that promoted cognition and interactivity.
Descriptors: Virtual Classrooms, Educational Environment, Chinese, Language Acquisition, Second Language Learning, Object Manipulation, Computer Simulation, Computer Graphics, Interior Design, Cooperative Learning, International Educational Exchange, Student Exchange Programs, Middle School Students, English (Second Language), Video Technology, Sociocultural Patterns, Computer Mediated Communication, Technology Uses in Education, Online Courses, Electronic Learning, Teaching Methods, Foreign Countries
Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education. Ascilite Secretariat, P.O. Box 44, Figtree, NSW, Australia. Tel: +61-8-9367-1133; e-mail: info@ascilite.org.au; Web site: https://ajet.org.au/index.php/AJET
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United States; China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A