English for Occupational Purposes through Second Life: Promoting Interaction, And Professional Training

Abstract

Nowadays, technology plays a fundamental role in our lives and consequently in the field of education, as well. If the appearance of the Web 2.0 contributed to transform learners into more active users of their acquisition process, there are tools such as virtual worlds which enhance interaction and help to develop computer-mediated communication in queasy real environments. In this context, our aim is to present a study carried out with English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) students attending an online course run through the management platform Moodle and where final communicative tasks are developed in the virtual world (VW) of Second Life (SL). The suitability to use virtual environments for language learning and professional training is measured by the completion of a survey analysis with course participants.