Article Sidebar

Submitted
Oct 20, 2022
Accepted
Dec 28, 2023
Published
Dec 29, 2023
Download
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 430 Download : 302

Main Article Content

Abstract

Applications of immersive virtual reality (iVR) for language learning are on the rise due to enhanced interaction possibilities with virtual agents and objects. However, iVR environments for language learning are not yet supporting speech recognition, hence limiting the potential to use iVR for fostering users’ pronunciation training. This is due to a lack of methodological guidelines helping education professionals to create iVR environments effectively supporting speech recognition and pronunciation feedback. Moreover, no matter how close to reality iVR settings are designed to be, users may miss the correspondence between virtuality and reality due to design issues and lack of realistic input, with detrimental effects on enabling users to transfer iVR-acquired language skills to real-life interactions. Attempting to address these gaps, this study examines the methodology adopted by a group of researchers at the AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Antwerp to design an iVR experience for learning the pronunciation of Flemish words. Following a participatory design approach, an iVR prototype was planned and designed with the game engine Unity and targeted to prospective international students at the University of Antwerp. Findings from user trials revealed that virtual agents’ timed feedback, environmental real-likeness and users’ involvement in completing linguistic challenges were considered to be essential tenets for fostering iVR-based pronunciation training. Additionally, results suggested that further developments are needed to develop a technology for speech recognition in iVR environments that foster students’ pronunciation skills and cultural exposure through pre-reality language training.

Keywords

e-Learning Instructional Design Language Education Immersive Virtual Reality Pronunciation Training Spatial Affordances Participatory Design

Article Details

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The author declares that the submitted to Journal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society (Je-LKS) is original and that is has neither been published previously nor is currently being considered for publication elsewhere.
The author agrees that SIe-L (Italian Society of e-Learning) has the right to publish the material sent for inclusion in the journal Je-LKS.
The author agree that articles may be published in digital format (on the Internet or on any digital support and media) and in printed format, including future re-editions, in any language and in any license including proprietary licenses, creative commons license or open access license. SIe-L may also use parts of the work to advertise and promote the publication.
The author declares s/he has all the necessary rights to authorize the editor and SIe-L to publish the work.
The author assures that the publication of the work in no way infringes the rights of third parties, nor violates any penal norms and absolves SIe-L from all damages and costs which may result from publication.

The author declares further s/he has received written permission without limits of time, territory, or language from the rights holders for the free use of all images and parts of works still covered by copyright, without any cost or expenses to SIe-L.

For all the information please check the Ethical Code of Je-LKS, available at http://www.je-lks.org/index.php/ethical-code

How to Cite
Compagnoni, I. (2023). A methodology to design immersive Virtual Reality experiences for foreign language pronunciation training. Journal of E-Learning and Knowledge Society, 19(4), 17-25. https://doi.org/10.20368/1971-8829/1135769

References

  1. Brockmyer, J. H., Fox, C. M., Curtiss, K. A., McBroom, E., Burkhart, K. M., & Pidruzny, J. N. (2009), The development of the Game Engagement Questionnaire: A measure of engagement in video game-playing. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(4), 624-634.
  2. Brooke, J. (1995). SUS: A quick and dirty usability scale. In: P.W. Jordan, B. Thomas, I.L. McClelland, B. Weerdmeester (ed.), Usability Evaluation in Industry. London: CRC Press.
  3. Calvert, J., & Abadia, R. (2020). Impact of immersing university and high school students in educational linear narratives using virtual reality technology. Computers & Education, 159, 104005.
  4. Chang, H. (2021). Emersive VR: An Expanded Immersive VR Practice (Master thesis, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA). URL: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0k21m2sf (accessed on 9th September 2022).
  5. Cook, M., Lischer-Katz, Z., Hall, N., Hardesty, J., Johnson, J., McDonald, R., & Carlisle, T. (2019). Challenges and Strategies for Educational Virtual Reality, Information Technology and Libraries, 38(4), 25–48.
  6. Davis, F.D. (1989). Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319-340.
  7. Eichenberg, C. (2012). Virtual reality in psychological, medical and pedagogical applications, InTech, New York, NY.
  8. European Commission, (2022). Digital education initiatives, URL: https://guides.library.uq.edu.au/referencing/apa6/webpage (accessed on 7th September 2022)
  9. Holly, M., Pirker, J., Resch, S., Brettschuh, S., & Guetl, C. (2021). Designing VR Experiences -Expectations for Teaching and Learning in VR, Educational Technology & Society, 24, 107–119.
  10. Immerse (2023). AI Conversation Practice. URL: https://www.immerse.com/ (accessed on 23rd December 2023).
  11. Kumar Jang Bahadur, S. (2022), Solving Automatic Speech Recognition Deployment Challenges, URL: https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/solving-automatic-speech-recognition-deployment-challenges/?ncid=so-link-148320-vt46&=&linkId=100000147748589#cid=dl20_so-link_en-us (accessed on 7th September 2022)
  12. Luthy, C. (2017), 5 ways virtual reality is flipping the script on screenwriting, URL: https://www.uncsa.edu/news/20170307-virtual-reality-screenwriting.aspx (accessed on 8th September 2022)
  13. Mitsui, K., Hono, Y., & Sawada, K. (2023). Towards human-like spoken dialogue generation between AI agents from written dialogue, arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2310.01088
  14. Moeller, D. (2017), Different types of immersion and how they work, URL: https://ispr.info/2012/06/28/different-types-of-immersion-and-how-they-work/ (accessed on 7th September 2022)
  15. Saberi, M., Bernardet, U., & DiPaola, S. (2014), An Architecture for Personality-based, Nonverbal Behavior in Affective Virtual Humanoid Character. Procedia Computer Science, 41, 204–211.
  16. Scovel, T. (1994), The role of culture in second language pedagogy, System, 22 (2), 205-219.
  17. Seyama, J., & Nagayama, R. S. (2007), The Uncanny Valley: Effect of Realism on the Impression of Artificial Human Faces. Presence, 16(4), 337–351.
  18. Spinuzzi, C. (2005), The Methodology of Participatory Design. Technical Communication, 52(2), 163–174.
  19. Visch, V. T., Tan, E. S. & Molenaar, D. (2010), The emotional and cognitive effect of immersion in lm viewing, Cognition and Emotion 24(8), 1439-1445.
  20. Witmer, B. G., & Singer, M. J. (1998). Measuring presence in virtual environments: A presence questionnaire. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 7(3), 225–240.
  21. WondaVR (2023), Harvard Students Build Their Own AI Game to Learn a New Language, URL: https://www.wondavr.com/case-studies/ai-mystery (accessed on 23th December 2023).
  22. World Economic Forum (2020), Technology is changing the face of education. Here’s how, URL:https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/08/how-edtech-will-transform-learning-in-the-covid-19-era/ (accessed on 9h September 2022)