This is the situation created by EF Multimedia of Sweden, for Escape from Planet Arizona, an interactive English language game which uses virtual reality, video, and animation to engage the learner in conducting "conversations" with English speakers in order to solve tasks and eventually escape.

In the promotional literature for their product, EF Multimedia makes the following claims about this product:

"Through real-life situations with native-speakers you are able to learn real, natural English. You can improve your speaking ability, increase your comprehension, expand your vocabulary by 2000 words, test your pronunciation, and practice your reading and writing skills."

I'll examine these claims individually:

1. "...real life situations..."

Escape from Planet Arizona uses QuickTime VR (virtual reality) in conjunction with actual video shot in the town of Jerome, Arizona, to create as realistic and fun interface as possible in a CD-ROM product. The user takes on the character of an alien whose spaceship has landed in Arizona. To do so, you must visit a small town and interact with its inhabitants in order to collect material to fix your spaceship. Most of the action takes place in the shops along Main Street -- a gas station, a library, a bank, a radio station, a diner/bar, an artist's studio, and a lawn shop. You must ask (pre-scripted) questions of the inhabitants in order to get information and items.

The "conversations" with the locals are interesting and well-acted. The only complaint at this point has to do with the voice of the "alien" -- that is, the voice of the user. It is flat and uninteresting (and male -- too bad that a choice between a male or female alien couldn't have been made). However, that aside, the conversations are humorous and use a good deal of slang and colloquial language, which most students would find interesting and motivating.

2. "...real, natural English..."

This claim is borne out completely in the program. This might be seen as a hindrance for lower-level students, however. The rate of speech and vocabulary are both authentic. Fortunately, an online glossary is provided -- clicking on the relevant word of the script and toggling the dictionary will allow you to see a definition. Also, you have the opportunity to read an English transcript of each utterance (or a translation into French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, or Swedish) on the screen if you want. There is one mildly annoying problem with this part of the program, however, and that is that the interface for the transcript only allows space for two lines of text, and there are a few instances in which the text clearly continues past this limit.

3. "...improve your speaking ability..."

This is one of the claims that is hardest to defend. The program does give the option to "record your voice." However, when and how to do so is left entirely to the user. At no point in the program is there instruction to record your voice, nor information on how to do so. There is simply a "record" button on the "communicator" (the tool used to talk with the townspeople). You could choose to repeat and record certain phrases you hear in the program, however, without specific instruction, I found little motivation to do so. There is no direct pedagogy involved in this disk, so there is even less motivation to participate in this activity. I completed the entire disk in silence, and I imagine most students would do the same.

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