There are still open questions about the effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) in Education when compared to conventional learning methods. This paper studies the feasibility of a VR-based learning tool and the possible differences in knowledge retention across a VR learning method and a conventional audio method, when it comes to learning a foreign language. Also, the students' sense of presence and satisfaction were studied. For such purpose, a user study was conducted and results revealed that while presence and satisfaction were higher in Virtual Reality, the knowledge retention score remains the same across both experimental conditions.

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Virtual reality has shown to have great potential as an educational tool when it comes to new learning methods. With the growth and dissemination of this technology, there is a massive opportunity for teachers to add this technology to their methods of teaching a second/foreign language, since students keep showing a growing interest in new technologies. This systematic review of empirical research aims at understanding whether the use of gaming strategies in virtual reality is beneficial for the learning of a second/foreign language or not. Results show that more than half of the articles proved that virtual reality technologies with gaming strategies can be used to learn a foreign language. It was also found that “learning” was the most evaluated dependent variable among the chosen records, augmented reality was the leading technology used, primary education and lower secondary was the most researched school stages, and the most used language to evaluate the use of gamified technology was by far the English language. Given the lack of directed investigation, it is recommended to use these technologies to support second language learning and not entirely replace traditional approaches. A research agenda is also proposed by the authors.

Among the wide application areas that Virtual Reality (VR) can have a major impact, one is Education. However, this potential is still unexplored, and one of these gaps has to do with language learning. Listening activities, which are often only supported by audio, are thought of to be demanding area when it comes to learning a second or foreign language and so therefore an interesting area for VR to take place. This pilot study therefore presents the perceptions of foreign language teachers regarding a novel medium for delivering listening activities to their students: Virtual Reality technology. The results show that foreign language teachers are of the opinion that this technology can help motivate students and potentiate the student's learning curve regarding the listening of a foreign or second language.