Abstract
The burgeoning popularity of immersive technologies seems to foretell the mainstreaming of such technologies in educational settings in the not-so-distant future; thus, it seems wise to gain a better understanding of their potential for language learning. Juxtaposing the capabilities of virtual reality (VR) with the pedagogical guidelines and practices of English for Academic Purposes (EAP), this study investigates the effectiveness of an interactive VR-assisted course on the development of academic oral presentation skills and the enhancement of self-efficacy beliefs regarding presenting in English in the Iranian academic context. To this aim, a mixed-methods study was conducted, and 3 Iranian university lecturers and 6 post-graduate students participated in a 6-session academic oral presentation course in which the participants accessed Alzahra VR Academy (1.0), a self-designed virtually simulated academic platform, to practice academic oral presentation. In the quantitative phase, a comparison of the participants’ pre-test and post-test scores revealed that the course had a positive effect on the participants’ academic oral presentation performance. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews on the learners’ self-efficacy beliefs regarding presenting were conducted before and after the course; moreover, their weekly reflection notes on the course were gathered. The analyzed bodies of data indicated that the interactive virtual learning environment of the course had made contributions to the improvements in their academic oral presentation skills, and achieving higher levels of self-efficacy regarding presenting after the course. The findings have implications for educational policy makers, administrators, curriculum developers, EAP teacher educators and EAP practitioners in the ELT context.
Author Information
S. Susan Marandi, Alzahra University, Iran
Fatemeh Saneie, Alzahra University, Iran
Paper Information
Conference: WorldCALL2023
Stream: Virtual Reality / Virtual Worlds
This paper is part of the WorldCALL2023 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Marandi S., & Saneie F. (2024) Developing Academic Oral Presentation Skills Through a VR-Assisted Course ISSN: 2759-1182 – WorldCALL2023: Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2759-1182.2023.15
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2759-1182.2023.15
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