(Dis)Engagement and Usefulness:

Students’ Experiences of Practicing Speaking German in a Virtual 360° Environment

Abstract

This study explored Swedish lower-secondary students’ (N=41) experiences of practicing German speaking skills with filmed native speakers in a low-immersive virtual 360° environment. The students practiced dialogues in everyday-life scenarios, performing authentic tasks such as ordering in a restaurant. We employed various methods to produce data on students’ self-reported experiences related to their speaking activity in order to gain a nuanced understanding of this way of practicing speaking. The data was gathered through logbooks, questionnaires, and interviews, which covered various aspects of the students’ speaking activity. The twofold analysis consists of descriptive statistics on post-trial ratings, and thematic analysis based on the qualitative data. The findings show that the students mostly rated the overall experience as fun and easy. They estimated that they had developed their German speaking skills through practicing pronunciation and dialogue and felt better prepared for speaking. We show that some students felt disengaged even when participating in immersive simulations. There were individual differences regarding sustained engagement and experienced usefulness of the system, mostly linked to technical and contextual issues, being interrupted, misunderstood, feeling uneasy, or finding the speaking activity monotonous, too easy, or too hard. The study found that students sometimes completed dialogues without understanding the meaning of the words. We thus conclude with the need for pedagogical guidance and framing to embed this type of speaking activity in classroom practice.