Week 5- Language Learner Behaviour in a Virtual Environment

It is no doubt that doing language activity in a virtual environment benefits students in the following ways:
- Increase student’s participation in discussing issues using L2.
- No distraction will be occurred from learner’s different accents
- No time pressure and interruption either by teachers or classmates
- Encourage shy and introvert language students to speak

From the above reasons, it shows a distinct behaviour pattern when working online. However, there are some points need to be concerned. First, it depends on what types of language activities students are participating in. Not all of them are suitable in a virtual environment. Second, the grammatical accuracy cannot be guaranteed because most of the language used online is informal such as MSN and ICQ language. Teachers do not have a chance to correct student’s grammar. Third, learning language in the real world requires face to face interaction. Besides, the exclamation marks in the online language cannot show the exact meaning of people’s body language and facial expression. It is much depends on how the reader interprets the online language and expression markings.