With the rapid development of technology, the evolution of games has benefited users with better enhanced graphics and overall quality in the gaming experience. Hence, the emergence of VR, where a highly interactive environment can be simulated to the human senses. VR uses computer graphics system that combines disparate interface devices to simulate the effect of immersion in a 3D environment (Pan et al., 2006). Once immersed in the interface, the user can turn and move like they do in the real world, with the digital setting responding to maintain the illusion of one being in the presence of a simulated setting (Liu, Dede, Huang, & Richards, 2017). This immersive experience enables users to feel their genuine presence in the virtual environment (Burdea & Coiffet, 2003; Sherman & Craig, 2003). In previous studies, VR has been applied in a variety of fields such as medicine (Djukic, Mandic,
& Filipovic, 2013; Huang, Rauch, & Liaw, 2010), military training, industrial work simulations (Blascovich & Bailenson, 2011) and gaming applications (Guttentag, 2010).
Advances in the development of VR have become more feasible for educators in the classroom setting, with some being hopeful in seeing the potentials it may hold in language education (Morrison, 2017). Along with a few studies done with
integrating VR and language learning (Lan, Chen, Li, & Grant, 2015; Lan & Liao, 2018; Peterson, 2011), VR technology has brought authentic elements into language classrooms and that offer learners real-time, dynamic and authentic learning
experiences to meet learners’ growing experiences in this digital era.
18 2.2.1 Characteristics of VR and its Potential
The following features of VR will be introduced that may be utilized to support language learning: Simulation, immersion, embodiment and interactivity. One of the key components of VR is its ability to allow users to perform things that cannot be done in real life (National Research Council, 2011). The setting could be created to mimic reality which allows users to collect and transfer information that correspond to real-life situations. VR introduces new innovative ways to provide learners with opportunities to carry out effective and meaningful learning in simulated real-world practices (O’Brien & Levy, 2008).
Another concept that is frequently mentioned in VR is immersion. Immersion in games causes users to be unaware of time as the involvement strongly enforces their focus on the task at hand (Jennet, Cox, Cairns, Dhoparee, Epps, Tijs, & Walton, 2008), giving the perception of being physically present in a non-physical world (Freina & Ott, 2015). Users can interpret the visual and auditory cues to gather information while engaging in the synthetic environment to navigate and control objects to accomplish physical immersion. In regard to language learning, Lan, Fang, Legault, and Li (2015) suggest that immersive contexts can administer an easily accessible alternative to a physical condition, while maintaining some features of embodiment in the learning environment. This realistic scenario may facilitate learners to become immersed in a target language community without needing to travel abroad to those locations (Aedo, Jemmi, Spector, & Zaiceva, 2011).
The limitations to not being physically in pertinent contexts may lead to a lack of authentic learning experience for learners. VR could substitute this predicament by providing users the illusion of the event experienced in the virtual reality to be
happening in real time. In other words, if one may perceive the undergoing task in an
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environment that would normally be perceived, then that person would be in that environment (Slater, 2017). Embodiment is the perception of the virtual body in the VR as being the user’s actual body, which creates a strong sense of presence in the immersed environment. A learner may be motivated to cognitively process a learning material more deeply when experiencing the virtual setting, which Lee, Wong and Fung (2010, p. 1435) state “the higher the level of presence, the better the learning outcomes”.
Interactivity is probably one of the most crucial elements of VR (Huang et al., 2010; Onyesolu & Eze, 2011). In gaming, interactivity broadly refers to the degree and quality of “communication between an individual player and the digital gaming system through different forms of activities” (Cruz-Cunha, M. M., 2012, p. 566). VR further provides immersive interaction which may encompass five common types of interactivity proposed by Moreno & Mayer (2007): Dialoguing, controlling,
manipulating, searching, and navigating. This may facilitate collaborative learning and social scaffolding for strong communication between learners as they actively acquire language by interacting with their environment, whether human or digital (Chittaro & Ranon, 2007). These types of context-based social interaction in VR could fosters learners’ language competence and communicative proficiency (Wang, Petrina, & Feng, 2017).
2.2.2 Studies in Language Learning Involving VR
VR may still be in the early stages of development, though much investment has been put into the technology that give good reason to place faith in the
opportunities it could bring to language learning (Lloyd et al., 2017). In Yeh and Lan’s (2018) research on the influence of VR on learner autonomy, 29 elementary school students took part in a four-month study using an online platform with a 3D
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virtual context. A questionnaire, interview and thorough observation were
implemented to evaluate the results. It was revealed that the virtual environment had a positive impact on learners’ autonomous learning, giving them the authentic opportunity to produce English output. This is in accordance with Merrill’s (2002) principles of instruction in emphasizing the importance of students engaging in meaningful learning tasks.
Learners’ oral output in Mandarin Chinese with VR was explored in Lan’s (2014) study with overseas Chinese students. Students in the experimental group used role-play in an interactive, virtual platform called Second Life to practice their communicative skills, while those in the control group received conventional teachings only. A learning-attitudes questionnaire and an online Mandarin oral performance test revealed that learners had a positive perception towards the medium as a learning tool, as well as improvement in their Mandarin oral skills.
Yang and Andersen (2017) investigated the impact of VR on university
students learning Japanese. Sixty-eight participants who self-reported having a lack of familiarity with the Japanese culture and language were recruited in this study. A 3D game called Crystallize was adapted to measure whether the feature of presence in the game was able to promote language and culture learning for the students. The
participants played two versions of the game, one being on PC while the other using a VR headset (Oculus Rift HMD). The virtual environment provides an immersive nature that deeply engages learners to gather information in the particular synthetic setting (Sherman & Craig, 2003; Wang & Braman, 2009).
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