Using immersive virtual reality for the assessment of intercultural conflict mediation

Date
2023-10-02
Authors
Taguchi, Naoko
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University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center
Center for Language & Technology
Volume
27
Number/Issue
3
Starting Page
108
Ending Page
128
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Abstract
This exploratory study adopted immersive virtual reality (VR) technology to develop a task assessing college students’ intercultural competence, specifically their ability to mediate an intercultural conflict. Participants were 22 students enrolled in the intercultural communication class in a U.S. university. They first completed a pre-conflict mediation task using a VR platform following three steps: (a) reading a scenario describing a conflict situation between people from different cultures; (b) observing two people having a conflict in a 360-degree VR video; and (c) mediating the conflict on-the-spot by proposing a solution to the conflict. After completing the pre-task, they attended two class sessions (75 minutes each) that aimed to develop their conflict mediation skills. After the sessions, they completed a post-conflict mediation task following the same steps as the pre-task. A comparison between the pre- and post-task performance revealed significant gains in conflict mediation skills assessed on five dimensions: social initiative, empathy, perspective-taking, solution, and clarity in discourse. Survey data showed that the VR task evoked realistic emotions from witnessing a conflict, which in turn prompted the participants to take initiative in mediating the conflict.
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Keywords
Virtual Reality, Intercultural Competence, Conflict Mediation
Citation
Taguchi, N. (2023). Using immersive virtual reality for the assessment of intercultural conflict mediation. Language Learning & Technology, 27(3), 108–128. https://hdl.handle.net/10125/73534
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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
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