Virtual Reality in the Language Learning Classroom

Abstract

As a Language Teacher in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program, one of the most prominent issues in my classroom is distraction from electronic devices, namely mobile smartphones. Typically, this is not just an issue in the EAP classroom, but rather it represents a larger issue within the post-secondary system (Burston, 2014), and the philosophy of how to deal with this distraction varies from instructor to instructor. From the outset of my teaching career five years ago, I have seen numerous failed attempts to keep devices out of student hands, instructors arriving at the frustrated concession of the current status quo: “as long as it doesn’t distract anyone else.”