For generations, students have typically been forced to learn foreign languages using paper worksheets and flashcards, but workers at the USC Academic Innovation and Research Engagement (AIRE) hope to change that with the virtual reality (VR) Study Lab.
“Anyone can learn Spanish for a classroom — textbook, memorize a list of vocab words, and be tested on it,” said Nahon Belay, a sophomore office assistant for the project. “You can’t [really] learn languages unless you’re being immersed in it. You can’t learn languages unless you’re speaking it and applying it in the real world, which is why I think this is a really important tool.”
AIRE hosted its first VR Language Learning workshop Thursday afternoon in Taper Hall. Students and faculty were invited to try out the new technology and practice their speaking skills in realistic virtual environments. The event was used to gain feedback from users in the hopes of using the technology in language courses in the spring.
Belay credited the creation of the project to Monica Garcia Prado, an academic program manager who works with AIRE. “[She] is really passionate about implementing this in the classroom,” Belay said. “I think next semester she wants to do more of the labs and then slowly integrate it into classrooms if she can. Obviously, the end goal is we want to have them in language classrooms where students can use them for free.”
The idea of using VR for language learning began this fall when Garcia Prado wrote a note to Belay, who is a Spanish II student, to try out different language learning VR apps. Now, AIRE is partnering with the language learning app Mondly and the Meta Quest 2 VR headsets to put users in real-life virtual situations performing practical tasks like speaking to a taxi driver, checking in at a hotel and shopping in the language of their choice.
“I liked that they did give prompts so you don’t feel lost or overwhelmed,” said Zankway Oo, a program assistant at the Office of Overseas Studies. “I went with [purchasing] a train ticket in Europe, in Spain.”
The languages are offered in three different levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced. According to Belay, the beginning level provides users with prompts and three responses in the chosen language and English. The user then chooses one response and practices their pronunciation with the answer. The intermediate level provides prompts, but does not give users pre-written responses. The advanced level provides no prompts for users, instead expecting them to respond verbally to what they hear, like they would in a real conversation.
However, in the intermediate and advanced level, the VR still expects specific responses, which can be challenging for native speakers who have specific accents or use certain slang terms.
“If you are a native speaker or have a background with the language where you kind of know some slang terminology or local dialects, [the program] doesn’t really take those into account with the software,” said Michele Heilman, a senior geodesign major who tried beginner Arabic and intermediate Portuguese. “So I’m sure over time they’ll start to incorporate more slang or local dialects and then it will be more realistic because it is VR and it is a realistic immersion experience, but in some ways it can’t capture some of the things that you experience if you’re actually there.”
While the program still has improvements to make, Oo believes that even with its faults, this type of innovative technology is a great step forward to making language learning more practical.
“[The VR was] easily more immersive, more fun, more engaging and it’s more relevant to today,” Oo said. “You know, we’re talking about students here, so we have to make sure we’re relevant to what the current climate is, and VR technology is definitely on the rise and it’s been implemented in other places, so why not cultural immersion?”