Designing VR Scenarios for Language Learning

August 17, 2021

12 pm HST – 3 pm PST – 4 pm MST – 5 pm CST – 6 pm EST

Duration: 30 mins

Presented by Carla H. Consolini, a Ph.D. student in Linguistics at the University of Oregon. Her research interests are related to the intersection between second language learning and technology, and practical teaching methods to incorporate technology in the second language classroom.

Virtual reality offers promising affordances for language learning in the classroom. With virtual reality we can design and create meaningful immersive environments that focus on unique characteristics of the target language practice and culture. VR has the potential to facilitate higher performance in terms of memory and, in turn, language learning.

In this online presentation, Carla Consolini introduces a virtual reality prototype that immerses language learners in a given situation in their target language. Users of this virtual reality prototype can observe and passively interact with their environment to better understand the target language culture. The presentation gives a short demonstration of the final product, and provides a summary of the necessary steps for language teachers to replicate this prototype using their own content.

The work described above was supported through a 2021 Summer internship sponsored by the Language Flagship Technology Innovation Center with additional support from the Center for Language & Technology at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

Webcasts Link: https://vimeo.com/588643714