Panel - Improve Foreign Language Speaking Proficiency in Immersive Environment

Abstract

Foreign language learners, especially adult beginning learners, often experience anxiety when acquire speaking proficiency. This negative emotional state hurdles the learners from starting to practice the target language with native speakers, their instructors, and their peer learners. The immersive learning environment provided through Virtual Reality (VR) technology enables students to start orally practicing the target language without directly facing the real audience at the beginning of their learning journey. In this panel, it is projected to present the possibility of applying VR language learning tools for students to practice speaking in a low-anxiety immersive environment for multiple languages: English, French, and Chinese. With four panelists, the possible tools, their affordance, appropriate instructional design, and activities suitable for VR delivery in the foreign language classroom will be discussed.