This quasi-experimental research aims to investigate if applying the Second life, a virtual platform, in the English communication classroom is highly effective. Other factors such as the gender differences, the difference of majors of study, and the number of hours spent on computers were also investigated. The Second life has been employed as a research tool in the study for developing English as a foreign language undergraduate students’ English communication skills. The samples of this study were 40 undergraduate students from two different majors, social sciences and science, divided into16 males and 24 females. They were studying English course at the university as a compulsory subject. The students took the TOEIC test as the pre-test before the semester starts. They were, then, asked to practice their English communication skills by typically interacting with the English contents, having discussion in the Second Life platform virtually outside of the classroom. After the TOEIC test was taken again at the end of the semester as the post-test and the data has been analyzed by t-test and ANOVA, the findings show that students with different backgrounds which were genders, fields of study, and hours of spending the computers have indifferent mean scores in their communication skills. It means all the students have developed their English communication skills. Applying the Second Life in English Communication classroom for EFL learners is highly recommended.

中文翻译：

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第二人生：发展泰国英语学习者英语交流技能的三维虚拟世界

这项准实验研究旨在研究在英语交流课堂中应用“第二人生”（虚拟平台）是否有效。还调查了其他因素，例如性别差异，研究专业的差异以及在计算机上花费的时间。第二人生已被用作研究工具，以发展英语作为外语本科生的英语沟通能力。这项研究的样本是来自社会科学和自然科学两个不同专业的40名本科生，分为16名男性和24名女性。他们在大学里学习英语作为必修课。在学期开始之前，学生参加了TOEIC考试作为预测试。然后，他们是 要求他们通常通过与英语内容互动，在课堂外几乎在“第二人生”平台中进行讨论来练习他们的英语交流技能。在学期末再次进行TOEIC考试作为后测，并通过t检验和ANOVA对数据进行分析后，调查结果表明，具有不同背景的学生（性别，学习领域和学习时间）花钱购买计算机在沟通技巧上的平均分数并不重要。这意味着所有学生都已经发展了他们的英语交流能力。强烈建议为EFL学习者应用“第二人生英语交流”课堂。在学期末再次进行TOEIC考试作为后测，并通过t检验和ANOVA对数据进行分析后，调查结果表明，具有不同背景的学生（性别，学习领域和学习时间）花钱购买计算机在沟通技巧上的平均分数并不重要。这意味着所有学生都已经发展了他们的英语交流能力。强烈建议为EFL学习者应用“第二人生英语交流”课堂。在学期末再次参加TOEIC考试作为后测，并通过t检验和ANOVA对数据进行分析后，调查结果表明，具有不同背景的学生（性别，学习领域和学习时间）花钱购买计算机在沟通技巧上的平均分数并不重要。这意味着所有学生都已经发展了他们的英语交流能力。强烈建议为EFL学习者应用“第二人生英语交流”课堂。