The Impact of Second Life on English as a Foreign Language Learning: A Systematic Literature Review
Sinem Caner, Ahmet Ağır · Necmettin Erbakan Universitesi Eregli Egitim Fakultesi Necmettin Erbakan University · 2025
This systematic literature review evaluates the impact of Second Life, which holds an important place in virtual worlds, on the learning of English as a foreign language. Within the scope of the research questions prepared to reveal the impact of Second Life on foreign language learning, fourteen publications identified after searching leading databases in the field of education were examined. These publications were categorised based on their focus on the four core skills of foreign language learning: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The publications were summarised primarily according to language skill type, study purpose, findings, and conclusions. The studies examined revealed that Second Life's innovative, immersive, interactive, and visually rich structure significantly influenced student motivation and participation. In particular, the anonymity provided by customisable avatars reduces students' anxiety about speaking and creates a more comfortable, appealing environment for speaking practice. The findings indicate that activities conducted in Second Life are more successful than traditional classroom applications, particularly in the sub-dimensions of speaking skills, including grammar, vocabulary, and fluency. Reading and writing skills are also supported through interactive tasks and in-platform content creation. Alongside these positive findings, there are significant technical requirements for using the platform, such as the need for a high-performance computer and a stable, high-speed internet connection. These requirements limit students' accessibility to the platform and deepen the existing digital divide among students. Adapting materials developed within the existing curriculum for the Second Life platform, integrating them pedagogically, and implementing this approach are quite costly and present significant challenges. In conclusion, the findings from this review study confirm that Second Life has the potential to be an effective and transformative tool in helping students acquire basic language skills in learning English as a second language. Future research should focus on longitudinal studies examining the platform's long-term effects, its integration with new technologies such as augmented/mixed reality, teacher education programmes focused on virtual world pedagogy, and ethical issues, including data privacy.