Language Education and Technology

Virtual Reality Games in Foreign Language Education: A Systematic Review

Nilay Çakır — 2024-04-24

The integration of technology in modern education has led to innovative approaches to learning, such as the use of Virtual Reality (VR) in foreign language education. The current literature review primarily focuses on the benefits and drawbacks from the viewpoint of the student, paying little attention to the experiences and difficulties teachers encounter when incorporating VR games into their language teaching. This systematic review, examining 46 studies between 2010 and 2023 with the PRISMA methodology, delves deeply into the topic of VR game usage for foreign language education. The data were analysed using a descriptive content analysis approach. This systematic review explores the use of VR games in foreign language education, revealing their potential to provide immersive and engaging learning environments. It also highlights the positive impact of VR games on students' motivation and enjoyment of language learning activities. However, challenges such as technical constraints, limited accessibility to VR equipment, and teacher training in VR integration remain. The review emphasises the need for curriculum alignment and pedagogical support to maximise the educational benefits of VR games.

Using Gamification to Support English Language Learning and Teaching in Turkish Context: A Systematic Review

Ali Kılıç — 2024-02-29

In the 21^st century to fulfill the needs of the contemporary era, attract digital natives’ attention, make learning more attractive, and satisfy their needs, technological tools and diversifying theories and strategies have become necessary. In this modern world, gamification has been one of the best and most attractive ways to support English foreign language teaching and learning with existing applications in the market. An overview of the application of gamification in the Turkish context is provided in this review. For this review, four main databases were searched and 16 research articles published from 2013-2023 were studied to emphasize the focal points of the research in terms of methodology, publication year, setting, and how and for what purposes gamification is used in the context. Findings show the phenomenon has gained popularity among researchers and the majority of the articles (N=15) were conducted after 2018. The researchers mostly utilize a Mixed-Method research design and favor conducting their studies in university settings recruiting students. Finally, the findings suggest that researchers are mostly inclined to find out the effectiveness of certain gamification tools on learners’ motivation, participation, engagement, and academic achievement and the perceptions of teachers and/or learners about these tools.

Homework in EFL Classes: Lithuanian University Students’ Perceptions and Opinions

Aurelija Daukšaitė-Kolpakovienė — 2024-05-22

Homework in the EFL context has not received much attention, especially when it is assigned to adult learners in higher education. Therefore, this article will attempt to fill in the knowledge gap in the field or at least provide insight into the topic from the point of view of Lithuanian university students studying English as a foreign language. It aimed to investigate students’ opinions on their homework assignments by addressing two research questions: 1) how do Lithuanian university EFL students perceive their homework assignments? 2) what kind of homework assignments do Lithuanian university EFL students see as (not) beneficial? The data were collected through an anonymous online questionnaire consisting of open-ended and closed-ended questions. The findings reveal that Lithuanian university EFL students perceive their homework assignments as beneficial, but they are not always interesting. The most useful assignments are the ones that are related to grammar. Yet, as the students pointed out, EFL homework in general should help them revise the studied materials and in addition to various language competences and skills involve the practice of other 21^st century skills.

Designing a VR Speech Simulation Game for Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Riitta-liisa Valijarvi — 2024-07-11

This design-based study focuses on a fully immersive Virtual Reality (VR) language learning game developed for Nordic higher-education students of Finnish and Swedish. The study was conducted in collaboration with language teachers, researchers from three universities, and a software engineering laboratory. The study complements existing research, e.g., by focusing on a fully immersive VR game, the higher-education context, and languages other than English. Our objectives are to answer the following research questions: 1) What are the aims and benefits of our language learning game in the Nordic higher-education context? 2) What is the linguistic content of the game? 3) What is the nature of the visual and interactive game world? 4) How does the linguistic and audiovisual content of the game world support learning? Our study identifies speaking and listening practice as one of the key skills needed by the target audience, university students of Finnish in Sweden and Swedish in Finland. We reflect on the thematic and linguistic choices we made when developing the game scripts. We also detail the types of multiple-choice and gap-filling exercises that the real-life-resembling scenarios contain. We discuss the audio-visual aspects of the game, including software, audio recordings, motion capture, speech-to-text, and summer cottage environment. Our game supports developing speaking and listening skills through pedagogical guided independent learning and contextualized multimodal learning. Our data comes from the game itself as well as user surveys.