The role of Avatars

This week our online Adobe Connect meeting was replaced by a meeting in a Virtual World (VW) called Small Worlds. Prior to the meeting, we were instructed to create an avatar profile and visit the meeting space. From what I understand from this week’s readings, “Avatars are access points in constructing affiliations, socializing, communicating and working through various selves” (Taylor, 2002, 60). Not being much of a gamer, it was a novel experience, and I enjoyed having the opportunity to explore my online identity.  I can see now, how, selecting what clothes and accessories you wear, to what accessories you carry, or own, contribute to your identity, and makes the VW experience more real. Not being one for dresses and skirts in Real Life (RL), I chose a a red skirt and white shirt as my VW uniform. Delighted at having braids as an option, I was able to wear my RL hairstyle. SW also offers a randomly generated name, which you can keep or amend. I went for something quite unimaginative (because, “I am who I am!”):

Social Interaction and Presence

In terms of presence, being able to use my avatar, to carry out some actions and interact with others helped to make real my engagement with the virtual world. Immediately before all my classmates arrived in SW for our online meeting, I walked around the space again, trying to discover new objects that were not there at my first log-in. At that time, I could not figure out how to eat and drink. But this time, I was finally able to eat a donut and drink beer! I also set off fireworks and sat by the fire. Perhaps these are good examples of what Taylor refers to as as “… the use of a body as material in the dynamic performance of identity and social life” (Taylor, 2002, 42), as I certainly felt more immersed in the environment at that time.  But the most exhilarating part of our SW meeting was listening to music and dancing with the other students and tutors! With music blasting we danced alone, then in pairs, and as a group. Some of us were able to synch our moves and we even added finger pointing to our dance move repertoire! “In all of these ways the digital body is used to root the self in the space. This performance is not only for the benefit of onlookers, but it creates and confirms to the user that they are, in fact, there“(Taylor, 2002, 42). Indeed, such simple, fun activities helped us to relax and fostered a certain unity within the group.

Avatars for Language Learning

During our meeting, our tutor encouraged us to communicate in any language we like, and I happily tried out my French, Spanish and Italian, with little regard for whether the sentences were grammatically correct. It was great to have native speakers to converse with. No-one could see or hear me stumble over my words, this made me more relaxed, and I felt more inclined to take more risks with what I wanted to say. So, in terms of language learning, then, I think that avatars can be a powerful tool for engaging participants and reducing inhibition, by allowing students to remain anonymous and, at the same time, construct their own L2 identity. The findings of Vasalou and Joinson (2009) in their paper: The role of interactional context on self-presentation through avatars, goes further and suggests that having the freedom and flexibility in designing your self-presentation, “…maintains users’ interests in their online identity (and) may encourage their return to the community” (p518). If we know that using avatars may encourage students to come back for more, then this has enormous potential for boosting motivation, a crucial factor in second language learning.

Vasalou, A. and A.N. Joinson (2009). Me, myself and I: The role of interactional context on self-presentation through avatars. Computers in Human Behavior 25, pp 510-520