Using Second Life Applications to Develop EFL Linguistic Competence among Secondary School Students

Abstract
The use of virtual worlds applications has been growing as a method to facilitating foreign language acquisition. Existing literature adopting virtual worlds has investigated the efficacy of various applications (e.g., Active Worlds, Quest Atlantis). However, few studies have explored the potential effects of using Second Life applications in the language learning process in the Arab world. This study investigated the impact 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’ linguistic 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 linguistic competence checklist, a pre and a post EFL linguistic competence tests, 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 linguistic competence. Findings of paired samples t-test indicated a significant difference between the mean scores of the participants in the pre and post test of the EFL linguistic competence components in favor of the post test, at the (0.01) level of significance. It can be concluded that using some Second Life applications is effective in developing EFL linguistic competence among first year secondary students.