How successful is Second Life for the development of communicative competence in a second language?

I will be participating in a teaching session in SL and reflecting on how successful SL is for the development of communicative competence in a second language. The outline of my teaching session is as follow:

Topic: Meeting & Greeting

Pre-Reading Activity: Group Discussion
How business people greet each other in different countries? (Speaking)

Reading Activity: Matching Information
Reading comprehension (Reading)

Post-Reading Activity: Group Discussion
Describe your own experiences (Speaking)

Outcome:
Students are made aware of the culturally appropriate ways in greeting people from different cultures through the means of practicing their speaking and reading skills in the target language, English.

My lesson is construed based on the framework of the 'Language Socialization Theory' - second language learners are socialized both to the language forms and through language, to the values, behaviours and practices of the culture of the target language. In other words, it involves “socialization through the use of language and socialization to use language” (Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986, as cited in Ellis, 2008).

Moreover, I will also try to identify some of the theoretical issues discussed in previous works of literature about teaching in SL, for example, the technology readiness of both the teacher and the students (Wang et al., 2009); the design of meaningful and authentic tasks (Rifin, 2005, as cited in Blasing, 2010, p. 101); the settings of the physical and virtual learning environments (Wang eta al., 2009).

References

Blasing, M. T. (2010). Second language in Second Life: Exploring interaction, identity and pedagogical practice in a virtual world. Salvic and East European Journal 54(1), 96-117. Retrieved from AUT University Library database.

Ellis, R. (2008). The study of second language acquisition (2nd ed). Oxford, UK: Oxfrod University Press.

Schiller, S. Z. (2009). Practicing learner-centered teaching: Pedagogical design and assessment of a Second Life project. Journal of Information System Education 20(3), 369-381. Retreived from AUT University Library database.

Wang, C. X., Song, H., Xia, F., & Yan, Q. (2009). Integrating Second Life into an EFL program: Students’ perspectives. Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange 2(1), 1-16. doi: 10.1007/s11528-009-0337-z


Albert