VR-Enhanced EFL Instruction in Higher Education: A Systematic Review (2020-2024)
Keywords:
Virtual Reality (VR); English as a Foreign Language (EFL); language learning; language education; higher educationAbstract
This systematic review examines how Virtual Reality (VR) has been used to support English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction in higher education. It synthesises evidence on reported cognitive, affective, and behavioural outcomes, and analyses how learner characteristics, instructional design, and contextual conditions are associated with VR effectiveness. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, the review included 49 empirical studies published between 2020 and 2024. The findings show that VR was most consistently associated with effective and behavioural outcomes, including engagement, motivation, willingness to communicate, and active participation. Cognitive outcomes were less stable. Improvements were more often reported for meaning-focused performance than for linguistic accuracy or higher-order cognitive processing. More favourable results appeared in studies that used active, constructive tasks, instructor guidance, combined forms of scaffolding, and longer interventions. Outcomes also varied according to VR type and instructional setting. The review indicates that VR is more likely to support EFL learning when activities are matched to clear pedagogical goals, learners’ readiness, and feasible classroom conditions. By taking a design-oriented perspective, this review shifts attention from whether VR works to the conditions under which it appears to support EFL learning in higher education contexts.
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.25.8.1
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