The Effects of Spherical Video-Based Virtual Reality (SVVR) on Chinese University EFL Learners’ Writing Complexity

• In Event: Simulation and Extended Reality Technologies (VR/AR/MR) in Education

Abstract

In traditional EFL writing classes, learners’ lack of in-depth experience in learning contexts may be the leading cause rendering students’ poor writing performance. To address this problem, a quasi-experimental study was conducted to investigate the impacts of a spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR)-supported instruction approach on the improvement of writing complexity. An experimental group (n = 31) and a control group (n = 31) participated in a 16-week study where the experimental group received an SVVR-integrated writing instruction while the control group the regular writing instruction. The findings show that the proposed SVVR approach could significantly improve students’ writing complexity in terms of lexical complexity and syntactic complexity, lending pedagogical support to the application of SVVR in EFL writing classrooms.

Authors

• Bin Shen, Fuzhou University

• Xing Weili, Fuzhou University

• Michael Yi-Chao Jiang, Shenzhen Technology University

• Morris Siu-Yung Jong, Chinese University of Hong Kong