The use of virtual learning communities has shown great potential for language education. Research suggests that video-conferencing technology can assist teachers in creating such communities for second-language teaching. Gather.Town is a gamified, video-conferencing platform that revolutionizes the traditional static video-conferencing experience for language learners. It provides users with a 2D map with avatar-based game features utilizing proximity-based video-conferencing functionality which enhance student online engagement and promote interaction that resembles real-life conditions. Gather.Town has received increasing attention from educational researchers since its launch in May 2020; however, its adoption in language classrooms has not yet been explored. This review paper aims to introduce Gather.Town to language teachers and researchers to enhance student engagement in virtual learning communities.

中文翻译：

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Gather.Town：促进参与和为语言学习者建立在线学习社区的游戏化工具

虚拟学习社区的使用显示出语言教育的巨大潜力。研究表明，视频会议技术可以帮助教师创建这样的第二语言教学社区。Gather.Town 是一个游戏化的视频会议平台，它彻底改变了语言学习者的传统静态视频会议体验。它为用户提供具有基于化身的游戏功能的 2D 地图，利用基于邻近的视频会议功能，增强学生的在线参与度并促进类似于现实生活条件的互动。Gather.Town 自 2020 年 5 月推出以来，越来越受到教育研究人员的关注；然而，它在语言课堂中的应用尚未得到探索。这篇评论论文旨在介绍 Gather。