Creating an Interactive Virtual Environment for Promoting Tourism English

EFL classrooms may, understandably, be unable to provide all of the authentic contexts essential for language learners. Today’s virtual technology is able to provide realistic situations that can complement what traditional classrooms provide. Past research has shown that learning in a virtual environment greatly enhances students’ interests as well as their academic abilities. Because the virtual platform allows learners to interact with objects, events, and other users in virtual space, it creates a meaningful learning experience in which learners can more effectively expand and perfect their knowledge. This research project involved students in a multi-user e-project effort to promote tourism English and to cultivate critical thinking and creativity. A quasi-experimental study was adopted to investigate the effects of a VR-design project and a traditional web-design project and to compare students’ motivation, collaboration, perception of task value, and technology use. The study results showed that between the two groups there was no statistically significant difference in their language performance in regard to tourism English. However, significant differences were found with the VR group in terms of students’ intrinsic motivation, collaboration, and technology use.