Developing EFL Interactional Competence among Secondary School Students Utilizing Second Life Applications

Abstract
There is a lack of research investigating the use of virtual worlds to support learning English as a foreign language. This study investigated the effectiveness of using Second Life applications (Second Life, Second Life Educational, and Second Life APK (Second Life version for Mobile and Android) applications) on EFL students’ interactional competence. The study followed quasi-experimental one- group pre-posttests design. Participants of this study were some of first year secondary school students (n=12) in one class at Al-Shoban Al-Muslemeen Secondary School Benha Educational Administration El-Qulubia Governorate during the first semester of the academic year 2022-2023. The instruments and materials of the present study included an EFL interactional competence checklist, a pre and a post EFL interactional competence test, and an analytic rubric for scoring and analyzing students' performance and a program based on Second Life applications to describe in detail the steps to be followed to develop EFL interactional competence. Findings of paired samples t-test indicated a statistical significant difference between the mean scores of the participants in the pre and post tests of the EFL interactional competence components in favor of the post test at the (0.01) level of significance. It can be concluded that using Second Life applications is effective in developing EFL interactional competence among first year secondary students.