Is game-based language learning general or specific-oriented? Exploring the applicability of mobile virtual realities to medical English education in the middle east

Abstract

Although Virtual Reality with simulation and 360-video scenes has been recognized as an educational game for improving general English communication in daily life, scant attention has been paid to specific language needs in applying the game to English programs of post-secondary education. Even less emphasis has been devoted to the applicability of multi-touch mobile Virtual Reality to general English and English for Medical and Academic Purposes education to support students in addressing their language needs in academia and the medical fields. This quasi-experimental study, through a parallel design, employed different treatments to explore the applicability of mobile Virtual Reality to learning general English and English for Medical and Academic Purposes productive skills. In 16-week English courses in a Middle Eastern medical university, 235 five-member cadres of students were semi-randomly assigned to two control and experimental groups to learn medical English speaking and writing through online tasks or mobile Virtual Realities. The findings indicated that the simulated three-dimensional environment of mobile Virtual Reality is a robust communication vehicle for learning English for Medical and Academic Purposes. However, non-concrete features of daily life related to general English productive skills were underrepresented in multi-touch stages of online tasks and mobile Virtual Realities. The future scope of the research in Virtual Reality-based language learning is elaborated.