An Innovative Teaching with Serious Games through Virtual Reality Assisted Language Learning

Research indicates that today's language learners are expected to spend as many, if not more, hours engaging in simulated and serious games than they are in formal face-toface instruction in classrooms. According to what did in this study, within a computer game-like virtual reality games, the researcher creates an environment in which the learner as a player is challenged and rewarded, and obtain results/feedback to learn pronunciation part of English learning (particularly vowel A/ and /i/ and vowel /o/ and /u/ words). To do this, this study investigated the effect of Virtual Reality (VR) games on the pronunciation of 36 low-intermediate levels Iranian young Foreign Language learners (EFL), aged between 6 to 12 years at Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. To achieve the goals of the study, after taking a pronunciation pre-test via Speech ace Browser, 18 students participated in the experimental and 18 participated in the control group to demonstrate the applicability of the virtual reality games. During the study, the researcher taught learners different subjects in 10 ninety-minute-long sessions through the VR games for the experimental group. Finally, the researcher gave the post-test whose results of the t-test was conducted to examine a potential relationship between the pretest and the posttest of the experimental group in comparison to control group. Findings showed that there was a significant relationship between these two groups which indicated that the VR group had higher achievement in the case of using VR games. This study has useful applications for EFL teachers, EFL instructors, Syllabus and curriculum developers, game-based learning institutes, and game designers.