Education Tech Research Dev (2015) 63:639–644

DOI 10.1007/s11423-015-9401-x

EDITORIAL

Embodied cognition and language learning in virtual

environments

Yu-Ju Lan1 • Nian-Shing Chen2 • Ping Li3 • Scott Grant4

Published online: 25 August 2015

 Association for Educational Communications and Technology 2015

Introduction

Based on the sociocultural theory of second language acquisition (SLA), it is the social
context and interaction that mediate language learning; therefore, they have been con-
sidered significant in the SLA process (Ellis 2008). Additionally, the person and the world
are connected in an inseparable relationship (Lantolf 2005). A context-dependent social
interaction is most important to SLA because it provides L2 learners with essential scaf-
folding for acquiring an L2 (Vygotsky 1978). Swain (2000) suggested that language
learning occurs both inside the head of the learner and in the world in which the learner

& Yu-Ju Lan

[email protected];
http://tell.aclc.ntnu.edu.tw/index.php/en/
Nian-Shing Chen
[email protected];
http://www.nschen.net
Ping Li
[email protected];
http://blclab.org
Scott Grant
[email protected];
http://profiles.arts.monash.edu.au/scott-grant/; http://virtualhanyu.com;
http://virtuallyenhancedlanguages.com
1
Department of Applied Chinese Language and Culture, National Taiwan Normal University,
Taipei, Taiwan
2
Department of Information Management, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
3
Pennsylvania State University, State College, USA
4
Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

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experiences the learning. In short, internal mediation (mental activity) is originated through
external mediation (Ellis 2008).
What has been emphasized in the inseparability of external and internal mediation
during context-dependent interaction in sociocultural SLA is in line with the argument of
embodied cognition. The formative role of the environment (context) plays in the devel-
opment of cognitive process (Cowart 2005) is emphasized, specifically on the ‘‘interaction
between perception, action, the body and the environment’’ (Barsalou 2008), which is
different from the traditional perspective that the body plays a small role in cognition.
Studies in line with embodied cognition have observed different roles of actions in cog-
nitive processes and have suggested that human mind is closely connected to sensorimotor
experience. Several general theories of embodied cognition, such as those proposed by
Glenberg et al. (Glenberg et al. 2004; Glenberg and Goldberg 2011; Glenberg and Kaschak
2002) and Barsalou (2008) argued that the cognitive process develops when a tightly
coupled system emerges from interactions between organisms and their environment, with
the interactions being real-time and goal-directed (Cowart 2005).
What has been found in terms of embodied language processing that a person’s bodily
sensations and actions will impact how he/she comprehends language is consistent with the
indexical hypothesis which states that an understanding of language results from a simu-
lation of the actions implied by the meaning of the sentence (Glenberg and Kaschak 2002).
Accumulating evidence from embodied cognition research supports the argument that
action enhances comprehension (Asher 1977; Glenberg and Goldberg 2011; Glenberg et al.
2004; Tellier 2008). In recent years, the findings obtained from brain research also echo the
view that language processing is an embodied process (Aziz-Zadeh and Damasio 2008;
Willems and Casasanto 2011); that bodily action in the contextual environment and the
person’s perceptual experiences are inseparable during the cognition process. Ruesche-
meyer et al. (Rueschemeyer et al. 2010) state that intentional actions activating the brain
resources used for the motor system are also engaged in lexical-semantic processing and
language comprehension. Additionally, the motor system is automatically activated under
the following three situations: when a person (a) observes manipulable objects; (b) pro-
cesses action verbs; and (c) observes the actions of another individual (Mahon and
Caramazza 2008).
Virtual immersion environments, such as Second Life (SL, a multiuser virtual envi-
ronment) or Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs), have
gained the attention of cross-disciplinary researchers (Lan 2014; Wang and Burton 2013)
because they make both avatar-self movement and different interactions between the
learner and the virtual environments possible (Lan et al. 2013). Thus, such environments
have been recognized to provide learners with an embodied learning experience (Schubert
et al. 1999). In contrast to controlling an avatar via a mouse or a keyboard (like SL and
MMORPGs), gesture-based technologies (like Play Station Move and MS Kinect) that
mainly involve gestures, or body motion, have also been widely used to support the
physical effects on learning (Chao et al. 2013; Chang et al. 2013; Hung et al. 2014).
However, the abovementioned embodied motion and the interaction obtained in a virtual
environment (VE) are accomplished not via the learners’ physical bodies, but their avatars.
Thus, we may have to wonder whether the avatar-based embodied motions are sufficient
and strong enough to originate the essential internal mediation in learners’ brains and
consequently have an effect on language comprehension and acquisition. Obviously, more
cross-disciplinary evidence is needed to answer the abovementioned questions and to add
to the knowledge base of embodied cognition and language learning in virtual worlds.

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This special issue aims at providing a platform for researchers to present their efforts on
studies that may offer insights into the relationship between virtually embodied cognition
and language acquisition. These are open questions worthy of further exploration. It is
expected that through the publication of this special issue, we can help develop a further
understanding of embodied cognition and language learning. After a rigorous review
process, eight high-quality research papers have been accepted for publication in this
special issue, and these papers clearly explain the relationship between embodied cognition
and language learning in VEs from different perspectives. We hope that these studies will
inspire future research in this direction.
In the first paper entitled ‘‘The effects of collaborative models in Second Life on French
learning,’’ Hsiao, Yang, and Chu investigated the effects of employing different collabo-
rative models on learners’ French performance and their perceptions about learning
French. Twenty-three college students participated in the study. After analyzing student-
created movies and students’ collaborative process, it was found that by virtually involving
the students in context-inclusive collaboration, their speaking capability and inter-peer
collaboration can be positively influenced. In the second paper with the title of ‘‘Second
language acquisition of Mandarin Chinese vocabulary: context of learning effects,’’ Lan,
Fang, Legault, and Li built three learning contexts (zoo, supermarket, and kitchen), in both
the virtual and the traditional web-based environments, for learners of Chinese as a foreign
language. Thirty-one monolingual English speakers, randomly assigned to the VE and the
traditional learning contexts, participated in a training study in which they were learning 90
Chinese words. After the experiment, the participants’ behavioral performance with regard
to accuracy, reaction time, and exposure were collected and analyzed by using variance
and mixed-effects modeling. The results showed a larger acceleration in the learning
trajectory for the participants in the VE context than those in the traditional learning
context. The results suggest that simulated embodied experience in the VE may have aided
vocabulary acquisition in a second language. Huang and Huang confirmed the effect of
embedding a scaffolding strategy in a handheld sensor-based vocabulary game on the
learning motivation and performance of students of English as a foreign language. In their
paper with the title of ‘‘A scaffolding strategy to develop handheld sensor-based vocab-
ulary games for improving students’ learning motivation and performance,’’ they found
that with the supports of scaffolding, the low-achieving students’ motivation and perfor-
mance in vocabulary learning improved significantly. Next, in the fourth paper, Pasfield-
Neofitou, Huang, and Grant investigated the relationship between virtual embodiment and
language learning. Through two case studies, they found that the multimodal communi-
cation established by the participants in virtual worlds made the distinguishability between
participants’ real identities and their virtual avatars vague. In other words, the boundaries
between the real and VE are highly permeable, with students moving freely between the
two, and the actions of their avatars in the VE having a direct and real cognitive impact on
the students themselves.
In the fifth paper, Lin, Chao, and Huang investigated the effects of one of the most
discussed affective factors, anxiety, on college students’ learning of the Japanese language.
They developed an intelligent affective tutoring system to recognize the facial expressions
of learners of Japanese language for providing them with adequate feedback. The results
show that this proposed system is beneficial for the learning of the Japanese language,
reducing learning anxiety, and improving learning effectiveness. Different from previous
papers with general languages as the target languages (Chinese, English, French, or
Japanese), in the sixth paper, Hung, Hsu, Chen, and Kinshuk investigated the effects of a
situated embodiment-based strategy with flag semaphore on learning sign languages. A

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total of 60 college students with no experience in learning flag semaphore participated in

their study. The results show that the proposed strategy with situated embodiment-based
learning effectively improved participants’ procedural knowledge construction and
enhanced their attention level with the lower extrinsic cognitive load in the learning
process. In the seventh paper entitled ‘‘Vocabulary learning in massively multiplayer
online games: context and action before words,’’ Zheng, Bischoff, and Gilliland investi-
gated how vocabulary was learnt by FL learners in Word of Warcraft (WOW), a massively
multiplayer online game by analyzing both chat and avatar action data obtained from a 2-h
co-play between two players. The analytic results provide the readers with an alternative
explanation of how players embodied in their avatars appropriated semiotic resources
imbued in WOW and make vocabulary learning salient in this context. Last but not least, in
the eighth paper, Hong, Hwang, Tai, and Lin, investigated the relationship among self-
efficacy, competitive anxiety, and gameplay interest of elementary students in a one-on-
one competition setting. A total of 278 fifth and sixth graders participated in their study.
The results show that both self-efficacy and gameplay interest are negatively associated
with students’ competitive anxiety.
The abovementioned papers will likely provide readers with a deep and extensive
understanding of the relationship between embodied cognition and language learning in
VEs. The covered target languages include Chinese, English, French, Japanese, sign, and
non-verbal. Moreover, the participants were drawn from a range of ages, from elementary
school students to college students. The investigated variables relating to language learning
are various, including performance, motivation, anxiety, self-efficacy, and sense of iden-
tity. Although the papers included in this special issue have covered a broad range of issues
in embodied cognition and language learning in virtual worlds, there are other issues that
may further attract researchers’ attention in the future. For example, longer-term longi-
tudinal studies, rather than studies in short terms like several hours, days, or 1 or 2 months,
are needed. Additionally, the analysis of learners’ learning behaviors in virtual worlds
relating to SLA is essential, such as their communication patterns and strategy usage. As
argued by Lan (2015), learning a language in virtual worlds can improve learners’ per-
formance, motivation, as well as provide them with authentic contexts for conducting
embodied and game-liked learning activities that meet people’s growing experiences in the
digital era. Researchers’ efforts on exploring the potential of virtual worlds for SLA will be
worthwhile because it presents a potential solution to the problems encountered in today’s
second language education.

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Yu-Ju Lan is currently a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Applied Chinese Language and
Culture at National Taiwan Normal University. Before becoming a professor at the university, she had been
teaching in two different elementary schools in Taiwan for more than 20 years. She enjoys working with
children and loves to help them grow and learn. This passion has motivated her to build a wide variety of
learning environments to meet Chinese as foreign language and English as foreign language learners’
multiple needs. She served as Chair of the Special Interest Group: Technology Enhanced Language
Learning in the Asia–Pacific Society for Computers in Education from 2012 to 2013. Her research interests
include language learning in virtual worlds, mobile learning, and online synchronous teacher training. She
has been working with a group of researchers to develop and implement the curriculum, pedagogy, lessons,
teaching materials, etc., based on the online 3D virtual contexts and mobile learning environments for
foreign students learning a language or culture. For more information about Lan’s research please consult
http://tell.aclc.ntnu.edu.tw/index.php/en/.

Nian-Shing Chen is Chair Professor in the Department of Information Management at National Sun Yat-sen
University, Taiwan. He has published over 400 papers in the international referred journals, conferences and
book chapters. One of his papers published in Innovations in Education and Teaching International was
awarded as the top cited article in 2011. He is an author of three books with one textbook entitled ‘‘e-
Learning Theory & Practice’’. Prof. Chen received two outstanding research awards from the National

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Science Council, Taiwan in 2008 and 2011–2013. His current research interests include assessing
e-Learning course performance; online synchronous teaching & learning; mobile & ubiquitous learning;
Game-based learning and Cognition & Gesture-based learning. Prof. Chen is serving as an editorial board
member for many international journals and guest editors for special issues of international journals. He has
also organized and chaired numerous international conferences and workshops in the area of advanced
learning technologies. Professor Chen is a senior member of IEEE, ACM and the current Chair for the IEEE
Technical Committee on Learning Technology (http://lttf.ieee.org/). He is Editor-In-Chief of the SSCI
indexed Journal of Educational Technology & Society.

Ping Li is Professor of Psychology, Linguistics, and Information Sciences and Technology at the
Pennsylvania State University, where he is also Associate Director of the Institute for CyberScience, Co-
Director of the Center for Brain, Behavior, and Cognition, and Co-Director of the Advanced Joint Center for
the Study of Learning Sciences. His research interests are in the cognitive science and cognitive
neuroscience of language acquisition and bilingualism, and his publications include co-authored books such
as Acquisition of Lexical and Grammatical Aspect; Handbook of East Asian Psycholinguistics; the
Psycholinguistics of Bilingualism; and Having Success with NSF: A Practical Guide. He is currently Editor-
in-Chief of the Journal of Neurolinguistics and Associate Editor of Frontiers in Psychology: Language
Sciences. He has previously served as Editor of Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, President of the
Society for Computers in Psychology, and Director for the Cognitive Neuroscience Program and the
Program in Perception, Action, and Cognition at the National Science Foundation. For more information
about Li’s research please consult http://blclab.org/.

Scott Grant is the Coordinator of Chinese Introductory and Chinese Online Media in the Faculty of Arts at
Monash University, Australia. He has been teaching Chinese as a foreign language at tertiary level for
20 years and is creator of the Monash Chinese Island 3D multiuser virtual environment (3D MUVE) in
Second Life that has been part of the beginner level Chinese language curriculum at Monash since 2008. In
2012 he obtained two seed grants from the Languages and Culture Network for Australian Universities for
the development of an immersive Arabic language and culture 3D MUVE and for research into foreign
language anxiety. In 2013/14 was the initiator and Project Team Leader of an Australian Government
funded project aimed at creating freely shareable pedagogical and technical resources for task-based
language learning in the 3D MUVEs of Second Life and OpenSim. He has published on educational uses of
3D MUVEs on topics including self-efficacy, cognitive skills, second language acquisition and foreign
language anxiety.

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