Using the second life digital environment for FL education: A postmodern perspective

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to raise awareness related to the postmodern educational philosophies, and to the opportunities provided by the emerging technologies and conditions of our era with regard to foreign language (FL) education. The main discussion was that educators and educational practices are not in complete harmony with the recent products of technology or with the needs, interests, and habits of the learners. The current work proposed Second Life (SL) as a useful model to focus on and investigate in order to derive some theoretical and practical guidelines and conclusions that will be consistent with all philosophies, applications, stakeholders, instruments, and conditions in educational settings in the current age of technology and in the future. The present study concluded that the administrative side of education has fallen far behind the progress in technology, and thus remains quite traditional and static, which creates a paradoxical situation suggesting that the teaching part has lost its power and efficiency, while the learning part continues to be innovative and creative.