VIRGE: Tutoring English over the Web through a Game

In the recent years, the learning of a foreign language has become more important and necessary than ever for many people of many different countries and mother tongues. The increasing necessity for learning a foreign language coincides with the Internet era, which has brought people closer through the computer communications. Thus, the Web seems a very appropriate medium for teaching a foreign language since it can ensure that the audience may be anywhere in the world and hence a web-based language tutoring system can be addressed to natives of different countries. However, one important issue that has been rather overlooked so far is how such tutoring may take place in a motivating, engaging and cross-cultural manner.