Social Virtual Reality (VR) applications enable real-time interpersonal conversation and allow users to perform activities together. They have the potential of changing the ways learners practise speaking a foreign language. Following a previous study (Jauregi Ondarra, Gruber, & Canto, 2020), we designed the present study to explore how…

The present study explored whether the use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology can help lower public speaking anxiety in the L2. To this end, we conducted an exploratory effect-of-instruction study using a one-group pre-test/post-test design with nine learners of English as an L2. The results from the post-test show that using VR in combination…

In this article, the developers of seven Language Massive Open Online Courses (LMOOCs), Icelandic Online (IOL, https://icelandiconline.com/), describe the technological and pedagogical principles that have contributed to the program's longevity. Development began in 2001 with a courseware system later upgraded to a multiplatform app. Over 80,000…

This short paper reports the findings of a study exploring English for Academic Purposes (EAP) students' behavioral intention to use a high-immersion Virtual Reality (VR) system for learning paragraph structure. The study measured relationships between variables that may lead to learners' intention to use the high-immersion VR Reality system…

This paper presents a research proposal that aims at examining the impact of communicative tasks mediated by Virtual Reality (VR) on second language (L2) Willingness To Communicate (WTC) outside of the classroom. The study will take place in Montreal, a Canadian city known for its regional variety of French and the bilingualism of its population,…

This case study describes the development of a free-to-use online platform for storing, sharing, and accessing 360-degree Virtual Reality (VR) videos. Although in the past VR was mostly used for gaming purposes, in recent years it has become increasingly popular in numerous areas, including education. In the field of language learning, little is…

Teaching culture out of context may not be the optimal approach, yet it could be achieved by immersive technologies. This study uses an immersive theme-based environment and focuses on cross-cultural interactions between learners of different cultures in goal-oriented scenarios. We collected interactions among learners with different cultural…

In this preliminary research study, Japanese university students created two dimensional (2D) interactive posters and 360° Virtual Reality (VR) presentations using Thinglink software. Students can use Thinglink software to annotate images with photos, videos, and descriptions. Researchers explore the extent to which students believed that creating…

This case study presents the results of an interdisciplinary Virtual Exchange (VE) that was arranged between Finnish and Polish students in 2019. During their six-week collaboration, the students of language studies at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, worked in teams together with their Polish peers specialising in information and…

Computer-mediated communication tools facilitate international collaboration projects between foreign language learners and peers abroad (O'Dowd, 2018). Social Virtual Reality (VR) applications allow for synchronous interactions and task-based communication in which learners can experience telepresence and immersion and conversate in a foreign…

This paper investigates the differences between Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) and the webcam (WBC) in the context of a Spanish distance-learning course. Two specific objectives were set: (1) to determine the existence of a relationship of dependence between the device used and the oral interaction, and (2) to analyse the existence of a…

Virtual exchange projects have become an effective pedagogical method to support students' development of intercultural language competence. High-immersion experiences in Virtual Reality (VR) may offer an environment which is conducive to developing such competence. This paper reports on a pilot study carried out with two groups of university…

This paper discusses the potential of immersing foreign language learners in Social Virtual Reality (SVR) in an international seminar, designed by the authors, called SpEakWise VR, combining the tandem language learning paradigm with gamification in immersive virtual environments. SpEakWise VR builds on an existing telecollaboration (SpEakWise)…

On its website, APVEA reminds us that "virtual exchanges are technology-enabled, sustained, people-to-people education programs". This chapter addresses the question of what we exchange when we engage in virtual exchange by exploring the meaning and value of virtual exchange as intercultural dialogue, and by considering the impact of the…

"Serious Games [SGs] are applications combining educational content with gameplay by integrating learning objectives into a game-like environment" (Thillainathan & Leimeister, 2014, p. 1). However, they have not been used much in language teacher education and training (Ulicsak, 2010). This paper describes the design of…