My reflection (Week 5) - Language Learner Behaviour in a Virtual Environment

This article claims that people normally act differently in a virtual environment comparing with face-to face situation. A virtual learning environment may help the students, who are shy and passive in class, to learn under a more relaxing atmosphere. I agree with this view point. In fact, in my class, there are also some shy and quiet students. They seldom express their opinions and answer the questions even they are asked. When they discuss with their group members (in English), they rarely voice out their own ideas. However, some of these students are very talkative when they speaks in Cantonese. I think why they react in this way simply because they feel frightened when using English which is not their mothertongue. They are afraid that they would make grammatical mistakes and will be laughed at by their classmates. Therefore, they may feel under a great pressure when they need to speak English in class.

In my opinion, learning in a virtual environment may help this kind of students. They don't need to give instant responses to the questions and the illusion of anonymity may also help them release part of the pressure. When they get a positive response, they can also build up their confidence. It may help them adapt their learning in class eventually.