Research has noted that virtual reality (VR) environments can lessen language learners’ foreign language anxiety (FLA). However, previous research has relied primarily on participants’ qualitative opinions, leading to a lack of studies empirically assessing how VR impacts anxiety and, consequently, second language (L2) oral production. This pilot study addresses these gaps by exploring how VR influences the self-reported and physiological FLA and oral comprehensibility of 25 L2 French learners. Participants completed four comparable interpersonal consensus building tasks over eight weeks: two in the social VR application, vTime XR™, and two in a traditional classroom. Immediately following each task, participants self-assessed their anxiety. Moreover, a subsample of participants’ self-reported anxiety data was complemented with a physiological indicator of anxiety, salivary cortisol, to evaluate using this biomarker in FLA research. Participants’ speech for all tasks was rated by four native French speakers for comprehensibility. Descriptive statistics are presented. Self-reported anxiety and cortisol data indicated that participants were less anxious in VR and throughout the eight weeks. A positive correlation was found between self-reported and cortisol data, indicating consistency between these two anxiety measures. Finally, raters found participants to be more comprehensible in VR and when they self-reported lower anxiety.

Introduction to Extended RealityThis special issue brings together five articles all situated within the field of extended reality (XR) and language learning. Since the release of the widely used Google Cardboard VR "headset" back in 2014, XR has been gaining in popularity among computer-assisted language learning (CALL) researchers and practitioners who are interested in understanding how to best use this technology for language acquisition.Extended reality is an umbrella term that encompasses three more specific types of immersive technologies: augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR). These three realities differ in the degree of immersion that they afford users, and can be classified on a continuum ranging from least (AR) to most (VR) immersive (see Figure 1 and Table 1).Augmented reality can be defined as a technology that allows users to superimpose virtual images or interactive media onto their real-life surroundings. This is typically done using a smartphone or a tablet, which makes AR one of the more financially accessible forms of XR, given that the vast majority of the adult population already owns a smartphone. One of the most well-known uses of AR is Pokémon GO, a smartphone game that went viral when it launched during the summer of 2016. In terms of language learning, AR applications such as Mondly (Figure 1, left) allow users to place various elements of virtual content into their environment to learn and practice L2 vocabulary. In the case illustrated in Figure 1, this includes

Recently, immersive virtual reality (VR) environments for language learning have garnered interest from researchers and practitioners alike, based on their realistic imitations of environments where target languages might be used for “authentic-like” interactions (with other learners, bots and avatars). However, the majority of research thus far has focused on university-level students’ perceptions of VR and there is a critical need for research examining how these environments can be used effectively with kindergarten to grade 12 students. This article discusses a pilot study that aims to fill this gap in research through a three-month-long VR study conducted with 10- to 11-year-old students in Spain ( n = 24) studying English as a foreign language (EFL). VR lessons were taught using the VR language learning platform Immerse and Oculus Quest 2 VR headsets. The data corpora consist of recordings of the VR activities, comparable non-VR classroom activities and teacher-directed student output (pre-VR and post-VR activities focused on the target language). Fragments of interactions during activities in both VR and the classroom were selected and transcribed. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment Companion Volume (CEFR-CV) illustrative descriptors were then used to map the participants’ language performance to the CEFR-CV scales. Findings indicate that production of the target language is less controlled and less accurate in VR compared to face-to-face “traditional” oral activities in the classroom. However, there are more examples of spontaneous language use, more examples of mediation between the learners and even moments of higher than expected levels of production and comprehension, equivalent to English language level B1 descriptors in VR.

No abstract

This longitudinal study explores how the language proficiency of eight (N = 8) US-affiliated university students developed relative to their smartphone usage during study abroad (SA) in Paris. Phone usage was tracked daily with Space, proficiency weekly using NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do statements, and language use monthly via a Language Engagement Questionnaire. Adopting a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) framework and following a microgenetic approach to case studies, the trajectories of each participant's phone consumption and Can-Do statements were established, allowing to visualize floors, ceilings, and probes in proficiency development.Spearman's correlations served to determine whether and how phone usage related to fluctuations in proficiency, and Kendall's tau-b its link with language used. Findings revealed that these relationships varied widely across participants, types of phone usage, and phone applications, with students displaying positive, mixed, or negative