School of Languages at XJTLU Conference 2024

Academic writing is arguably the most important skill in the learning of English for Academic Purposes. Students are often found to experience difficulties and frustrations in learning and conforming to academic writing conventions, including paraphrasing and summarizing source materials, referencing, etc. In recent decades, VR technology has provided an innovative learning environment, which can stimulate students’ interest in the learning of various subjects. Moreover, its immersive environment ensures learner engagement and minimize distractions. Therefore, using cutting-edge VR technology in a gamified environment has great potential to enhance students’ motivation to learn academic writing conventions and achieve intended learning outcomes in a non-conventional way.

This presentation aims to share the research design and findings of a funded project at XJTLU. The project provided students with a VR learning environment where they explore artefacts to complete academic writing by paraphrasing and summarizing the source information to support their opinion. The presentation will start with the research background, followed by the approaches and methodology taken. Subsequently there will be a result and discussion section to share significant research findings. Finally it will shed light on the effectiveness of using VR technology to facilitate students’ academic writing. In an era where artificial intelligence plays an increasingly important role in the process of language acquisition, hopefully the presentation will inform language tutors of alternative pedagogical approaches to the teaching of academic writing conventions in an innovative way.