Abstract:

A main area that sets apart first (L1) and second language (L2) acquisition is the learning context, the amount of input, and quality of interaction. Whereas native speakers will acquire their language from birth in a naturalistic environment. L2 learners tend to begin learning a foreign language in their early to late-teen years, in traditional classroom contexts where input is limited in use and lacks the authenticity to foster the communicative competence required for effective language acquisition, as found in a naturalistic (Ellis, 2003; Ortega 2009). As proposed by Long’s (1996) Interaction Hypothesis, learners can communicate successfully if they engage in authentic interaction with others. Ideally, this would be native speakers of the target language. Interaction create communicative opportunities for learners to assess their knowledge of the language and to put it into practice, testing the limits of their abilities and responding accordingly (Larsen-Freeman, 2002). With such a vast gap between the L1 and L2 language learning context, alternatives that can effectively cater to the classroom leaner remain to be explored. One learning context which has grown the past few decades is Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). Initially emerging as text-based interaction, today CALL has introduced a communicative component to language learning that are beyond what was previously achievable in a traditional classroom context (Grgurović, Chappelle, Shelley, 2013). Language learning through virtual reality (VR) has “received considerable attention in the past few years” (Lin & Lan, 2015, p. 486), with researchers focusing their attention on ways through which these “fail safe learning environments” may positively affect participants (Lin & Lan, 2015, p. 487), by reducing anxiety (Blyth, 2018; Lin & Lan, 2015; Melchor-Couto, 2016, 2018; Reinders & Wattana, 2014). VR has demonstrated an increase in the authenticity of the context in which students performed meaningful communicative tasks, with a focus on being understood which by the end lead to better performance through richer interactions (González-Lloret & Ortega, 2014). Well-designed communicative tasks, mediated by computer technologies which boost audio-visual input, can be more holistic and authentic, and require digital skills that are particularly valuable in our current digitally inclined society, especially among the younger L2 learners attending our classrooms, which Prensky (2001) refers to as “digital natives”.

The present study aims to study the effects of traditional as well as task-based language tasks (with integrated virtual technology) on English L1-French L2 learners’ knowledge of French Past-Tense. The aim is to showcase the effectiveness of using current technological devices in aiding English-L1 French-L2 students to learn French past-tense.

Keywords:

Second language learning, Interaction, Virtual reality, interaction.