Language teaching with high-immersion virtual reality: Developing TPACK through lesson planning

Abstract

High-immersion virtual reality (HiVR) offers engaging experiences to foreign language learners, and numerous empirical studies support its effectiveness for language learning. However, implementation of this technology in school-based language teaching is scarce and requires comprehensive teacher training as well as pedagogical guidelines. Specifically, foreign language teachers need to develop their technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) to align language pedagogy with the affordances of virtual reality (VR) headsets and applications. Based on an approach to language teaching with VR that is anchored in Technology-Mediated Task-Based Language Teaching (TMTBLT), this qualitative study investigates (1) how the integration of HiVR into lesson plans combines language pedagogy and technological affordances, and (2) how pre-service teachers’ TPACK develops through participation in a university course with a focus on lesson planning. First, fifteen lesson plans were analyzed qualitatively. Then, participants’ TPACK development was assessed through lesson plan quality ratings and a thematic analysis of a pre-survey, reflection journals, and group interviews conducted after the course. The findings demonstrate the importance of lesson planning and micro-teaching for the development of a highly integrated TPACK, and alignment of HiVR-tasks with basic principles of TMTBLT. The study outlines further directions for research and teaching with HiVR.