Virtual Reality in Learning Foreign Languages: Theoretical Aspect

Abstract

The article concerns virtual reality in education, which involves a completely new approach to the presentation and assimilation of new material in institutions of higher education. Virtual reality is a world created by technical means and transmitted to a person through the senses: sight, hearing, touch; it is a complex of technical means that immerse a person in a virtual 3D scene, the model of which is created with the help of a computer, and such a model allows to feel presence in another world. The purpose of the article is to study the peculiarities of the application about virtual technologies in the educational process, which can be used to improve the mastering of foreign languages in higher education institutions. The object of the article is virtual reality as a phenomenon and process. The subject of the article is the process of using virtual reality in the study of foreign languages in institutions of higher education. Research methods: structural and systemic, comparative and theoretical analysis, synthesis, generalization and systematization of scientific sources, descriptive, functional, constructive and translation methods. Advantages of using VR technologies: visibility (with 3-D graphics is possible to show various phenomena in detail), safety (absence of threats to life), involvement (all participants ISSN 2308-4855 (Print), ISSN 2308-4863 (Online) Коробова І. Віртуальна реальність у вивченні іноземних мов: теоретичний аспект can change scenarios), focus (concentration on the material), presence (feeling of real presence), improvement of language competence (correct pronunciation of words, and enrich vocabulary), activation of cognitive activity, individualization of education. Disadvantages include, in particular, solving technical problems. Virtual reality in the process of learning foreign languages allows holding video conferences from all over the planet; create 3D electronic educational resources, create 3D presentation and informational materials, visualize the countries whose languages learnt, organize 3D tours that allow moving in virtual space -disappears the border between theory and practice and the experience will become the basis in real life. The perspective of further research is in the theoretical description of the practical application of virtual reality for learning English, covering the entire world community to become a global, world, multi-ethnic and multicultural conglomerate.