Bruno Miguel Peixoto

Abstract
Abstract The sense of presence is an important aspect of experiences in Virtual Reality (VR), an emerging technology in education. This construct specifically has been increasingly researched in parallel to learning purposes. However, there is not a consensus in the literature on the outcomes of this association. Aiming to outline a panorama in this regard, a systematic review was conducted, with a comprehensive analysis of 140 primary studies recovered from five worldwide databases. The analysis shows an overview of 24 years of areas, factors, and methodological approaches that seem to be more inclined to benefit from the sense of presence towards learning purposes. We contribute to the advancement of the state of art by providing an understanding of the relationship among these three variables, identifying how to benefit from the sense of presence to further leverage the use of VR for learning purposes.

Abstract
Immersion is a proven method of learning a foreign language and using Virtual Reality to achieve that immersion has high potential educational benefits. However, there are no recent systematic reviews that combine both foreign language education and immersive Virtual Reality. This systematic review aims to identify features, educational methods, technologies, and gaps of immersive virtual reality for foreign and second language education. PRISMA method was followed to carry out the systematic review. From the analysis of the results, two main conclusions were drawn. Firstly, the relation between immersive Virtual Reality and foreign language learning is quite positive, particularly when compared with conventional pedagogical practices. Not only that, the connection between immersive Virtual Reality and the user's motivation and satisfaction is also quite positive. Lastly, limitations such as the low sample of studies and gaps in the literature are addressed, and directions for future work and the area's progress are pointed out.

Abstract
Virtual reality has shown to have great potential as an educational tool when it comes to new learning methods. With the growth and dissemination of this technology, there is a massive opportunity for teachers to add this technology to their methods of teaching a second/foreign language, since students keep showing a growing interest in new technologies. This systematic review of empirical research aims at understanding whether the use of gaming strategies in virtual reality is beneficial for the learning of a second/foreign language or not. Results show that more than half of the articles proved that virtual reality technologies with gaming strategies can be used to learn a foreign language. It was also found that "learning" was the most evaluated dependent variable among the chosen records, augmented reality was the leading technology used, primary education and lower secondary was the most researched school stages, and the most used language to evaluate the use of gamified technology was by far the English language. Given the lack of directed investigation, it is recommended to use these technologies to support second language learning and not entirely replace traditional approaches. A research agenda is also proposed by the authors.

Abstract

Abstract