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Alicia Guebert struggled with boredom in her French class last semester.
But this semester, characters in a virtual world hold her attention while she learns German.
Guebert, a junior from Modock studying art history, said the new experiment to help students learn a foreign language as characters in the simulation game Second Life has her staying awake and learning in German class.
"It's like actually practicing the language. That's much more useful than memorizing a list of words," Guebert said. "It makes learning a new language exciting."
Second Life is a free program that contains a virtual world full of users from around the globe. Through the program, language students are able to communicate with people from other nations in real time, as well as complete tasks that are assigned to them in order to learn parts of language such as prepositions, said Thomas Thibeault, director of the Language Media Center.
Though Thibeault and his students are enthused about the program, not everyone believes that Second Life has the capability of replacing the traditional physical interaction between teachers and students.
Kathy Chonez, lecturer of Spanish, is a member of the traditional methods of teaching language.
"I'm not one that is convinced that technology is the panacea of language learning," Chonez said.
Paul Brown, assistant professor of classic languages, said he uses more traditional methods but can see the advantages of using a program such as Second Life. He said that the advantage of the program is that students are not constrained by space.
Second Life may be used from any computer with Internet access, but the Language Media Center houses other resources for all students.
"Although more and more students have their own computers, we have specialized technology that they don't have access to (on their own)," Thibeault said.
Self- instructional programs such as Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone and Rocket Languages are available in the center, as well as other software programs that accompany textbooks.
Introductory courses in languages require students to spend time in the center. Elizabeth Gordon, a sophomore from Chicago majoring in paralegal studies, said 100 percent of her participation grade comes from the 50 minutes she has to spend each week in the lab for Spanish 114.
The center isn't just a resource to those learning other languages other than English but also a resource to those who want to learn English who are not native speakers.
Though many students and instructors from foreign language classes utilize the center, all students within the College of Liberal Arts may use the facilities, Thibeault said.
Morgan Hottes can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 270 or at mhottes@siu.edu.
