Gaming

Blast Theory and Toni Dove's intertwining of performance, interactive media and pervasive gaming have had a deep impact on my understanding of narrativity, telling and interaction. This combined with Derrida's and other perspectives on language ownership/belonging, have led me to analyse language from performance theory and try to size potential creative approaches to teach/learn/assess intercultural competence, which would seem to have a specific weight on candidate failure at external ESOL exams. On 2007 I developed a pilot treasure hunt board game for a young learner oral exam, which was both fun and stimulating! Games and MUVE, essential here.

On the other hand, the online/CB/telephone language testing solutions I've had access to involve reading aloud, repetition, short responses to on-screen questions, etc. for the speaking component, and thus do not incorporate the full range of tools available. Besides technical complexity there are other issues to cater for (integrity, security, legal requirements, etc.) that make international language certificates lag behind other fields in terms of technology. I realise conducting oral exams in SL is unlikely, but adding avatars to existing software may not be that crazy.

This interview with James Paul Gee provides some room for hope.