ABSTRACT
This chapter argues the virtual worlds such as Second Life offer productive possibilities for professional writing classroom contexts. It suggests that there are particular abilities that participating in virtual worlds requires and fosters; such abilities are coterminous with the writing and communication skills that college students need to succeed in the workplace. The chapter discusses the concept of literacy or multiliteracies in professional and technical communication. It discusses virtual worlds and their attraction for businesses, especially the concepts of play and professional identity and how they fit into workplace contexts. The chapter demonstrates the Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) like Second Life can prove to be rhetorically rich sites for professional writing students to learn about the spatial dynamics of professional development and interaction. MUVEs like Second Life are environments in which the domains can be addressed in pedagogical situations dealing with virtual teams. It concludes with pedagogical implications for using Second Life in professional writing classroom contexts.
