Keywords

7.1 Introduction

According to an IDC report, it is estimated that global revenue from Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technology will reach $160 billion by 2023 (Framingham, 2019). Goldman Sachs predicts fifteen million users will spend $700 million dollars in AVR technology by 2025 (Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research, 2016). Large technology companies like Facebook, Google, and Microsoft have invested considerably in AVR technology, suggesting that this innovative technology will not fade away anytime soon and availability of devices will only increase. Thus, more such resources can and should be integrated into educational settings. Renowned content providers, such as Discovery VR, National Geographic 360 videos, NASA, and ABC news, are already available for free (Johnson, 2019). However, there is still lack of AR and VR educational content for certain learning subjects, particularly Chinese language. Compiling quality content for this subject should involve more professional experts and educators. Teachers are the best content providers because they know second or foreign language learners need frequent authentic interactions and an immersive learning environment. AR and VR technology creates versatile and authentic virtual interactions by stimulating multiple senses to promote learning and long-term knowledge retention. Language learners immersed in a virtual world can engage in virtual conversations with a native speaking avatar (Douglas, 2017; Papin, 2018) and explore the target culture (Cheng et al., 2018) through mounted headsets. However, research of AR/VR technology applications in the language education field remains in its infancy (Hitchcock, 2017), and lacks classroom-based application. It is time for Chinese teachers to think about how to apply AR and VR technology in the classroom, and compile quality content for technology developers.

Current educators of teacher training programs should consider integrating this innovative technology into their teacher training lessons to prepare future teachers for regularly implementing and adapting this technology to their language classes. Language teachers who are not technology experts often need guidance and support to incorporate such new technologies into their lessons. Therefore, the researcher of this study conducted a teacher training course based on a sequence of five-phase strategies to guide Chinese teachers in implementing AR and VR technology into their courses. By analyzing the cases of AR and VR Chinese lessons implemented by the participants of the Chinese teacher training course, this study aims to (1) determine the affordance of the AVR technology in Chinese education and (2) highlight the challenges that teachers may encounter during implementation.

7.2 Literature Review

Recent and rapid development of virtual and augmented reality technology has impacted the ecology of education. For example, virtual reality users often wear a mounted headset to immerse themselves in virtual world where they can talk, walk, and make decisions freely. This can be a great tool for language learners who want to advance their real-time thinking and language skills (Hitchcock, 2017). To further understand the potential of AVR technology in education, the researcher of this study reviewed prior research associated with these topics: AVR technology and education, theories or approaches applied in AVR technology, and AVR technology in language.

7.2.1 AVR Technology and Education

AR and VR technology were first used in the1970s (Elmqaddem, 2019). At that time, many technical constraints prevented educators and teachers from adopting it for education. AVR technology was not considered common technology until 2013. With the technical advancement of mobile devices, manufacturers became interested in AR and VR technology again, which drove software development toward more interactions for consumers and a global interest among various industries (Jowallah et al., 2018). In Asia, especially in Taiwan’s mass media news, 2016 was named the beginning of the AR and VR technology era and launched a global movement toward developing prevalent and inevitable AVR technology for the future. Thus, the need for its quick integration into education is increasing (Milman, 2018).

From an educational perspective, the global view is that educational settings are shifting toward technology-integration-orientation, and teachers should prepare to integrate AVR technology into their lessons (Peterson & Stone, 2019). Nowadays, although three instruction delivery methods are well-developed—face-to–face, online, and blended—the merging of AVR technology has redefined them. AVR technology can be distinct or combined with other methods. When combined, it provides virtual physical experiences for learning and reconnects learners to the real world through such virtual experiences. This allows students to fully engage in learning activities, share their observations with peers, and make predictions. Some behaviors, such as sharing and predicting, are not easily triggered within a classroom setting (Peterson & Stone, 2019), but AVR technology can be a potential tool to enhance a teacher’s classroom. To encourage these behaviors in a classroom setting, teachers and educators must adjust their pedagogy and instructional strategies, which implies a need for formal AVR teacher training.

Many companies, such as Immersive VR Education, Unimersiv, Google Expeditions, Alchemy VR, Discovery VR, zSpace, Curiscope, WoofbertVr, and ClassVR have developed AVR technology platforms for educational uses, including numerous sample lessons, cases, and materials for different learning subjects and age levels. With rich and supportive resources from the market and successful evidence from pioneer schools (ClassVR, 2020), in-service teachers who are willing to use technology and pre-service teachers should be trained not only in its benefits but also its limitations (Jowallah et al., 2018; Sarigoz, 2019).

Regarding the benefits of applying AVR technology into lessons/schools, previous findings can be classified into four categories. (1) increasing learning motivation. According to Kavangh et al. (2017) analysis of VR research, this is the second most cited finding from previous studies across different subject areas (Jensen & Konradsen, 2017; Johnson, 2019). (2) facilitating the concept of cognitive learning. Through a low-cost and portable Google Cardboard VR learning system, Ray and Dab (2016) conducted a comparative study of 40 college students, the result showed that students from the VR group not only performed better but also participated more than students from the traditional strategies group. (3) offering a secure environment. When VR is applied in education, it aims to provide an immersive and safe educational environment for students who need scenarios or trainings that are too difficult or dangerous to conduct in real life (Kaminska et al., 2019). (4) blocking out other distractions while learning. When users wear head-mounted displays, they become more focused on the learning context and are not distracted by noises from traditional classroom settings. This also promotes personalized learning (Bonner & Reinders, 2018).

Regarding limitations, the literature mentions five common drawbacks. (1) cost. Creating a realistic virtual environment requires powerful hardware, such as the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, which are considered expensive alternatives to conventional education. Therefore, educators prefer low-cost and wearable options supporting AVR technology using smartphones, such as Google Cardboard. Educational simulations require better content and easy access as opposed to a high-end solution (Jensen & Konradsen, 2017; Kaminska et al., 2019). (2) balance of pedagogy and technology. While AVR technology is used in lessons/activities, teachers need to be aware of the combination of pedagogical strategies in conjunction with this technology (Bonner & Reinders, 2018), instead of being driven solely by the latest technological innovations. (3) health issues. Even though much research has reported users have enjoyed and preferred immersive learning environments with AVR technology support, side effects such as dizziness and nausea, named cybersickness or VR sickness, have been known to occur. Weech et al. (2019) concluded a negative correlation between users’ presence in VR environments and their sicknesses. Although more empirical studies are needed to examine the relationship between cybersickness and users’ presence in AVR integrated courses, teachers are expected to be aware of the dilemma of how to maximize student immersion while minimizing sickness. (4) security issues. Online activities may create new dangers such as harassment, so Bonner and Reinders (2018) suggested using password-protected spaces, where teachers can monitor students’ activities, and creating secure learning AVR environments, where students can express their opinions. Personal information should not be shared outside of the classroom. (5) lack of content. Jensen and Konradsen (2017) pointed out that most VR simulators were created for self-learning and were not designed for different pedagogical strategies or learning levels. For classroom use, instructors prefer the ability to create or edit content.

For teachers who would like to try AVR technology in their courses, previous educators have made some pedagogical and research suggestions. (1) low-cost options. Johnson (2019) having two years of AVR integration experience in a middle school, suggests that teachers begin with low-cost options, such as Google Cardboard, Nearpod, and 360-degree videos; choose high-quality content tied to curriculum; and have discussions with other teachers. (2) When applying AVR technology in education, instructors should focus on how and for what purpose the AVR technology should be used rather than whether AVR technology should be used at all (Jensen & Konradsen, 2017). (3) Prolonged and repeated investigations on learning progress are needed, especially in authentic educational settings rather than laboratory learning environments (Jensen & Konradsen, 2017).

7.2.2 Theories or Approaches Applied in AVR Technology

When applying innovative technology in instruction, instructors with a teaching philosophy can successfully drive their faith to implement lessons with new modes, tools, or pedagogy. Educational theories can be a key role during this process. In terms of applying AVR technology, the researcher of this study lists some educational theories below that may apply to AVR technology.

Dale’s Cone of Experience. According to Edgar Dale’s Cone of Experience, it shows the progression of learning experiences from concrete to abstract, corresponding to three modes: enactive (i.e., learning by doing), iconic (i.e., learning through observation), and symbolic experience (i.e., learning through abstraction) (see Fig. 7.1) (Lee & Reeves, 2007). According to Lee and Reeves (2007), Dale’s Cone of Experience has been misinterpreted by claiming that learners will remember 10% from reading, 20% from hearing, 30% from seeing, 50% from hearing and seeing, 70% from speaking, and 90% from speaking and doing. It has also been implied that realistic learning experiences are better than abstract learning experiences. It is very common for AVR learning researchers to adopt a concept like Dale’s Cone of Experience to support AVR learning, such as Class VR (2020) and BT from the UK. Although misused literature was applied, Dale suggested that teachers be aware that learning involves the combination of concrete and abstract learning experiences (Lee & Reeves, 2007), which is a great indicator for AVR technology integration.

Fig. 7.1
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Dale’s Cone of Experience

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Constructivism. Constructivists propose that learning becomes more effective when students are actively constructing knowledge through learning-by-doing situations involving active, interactive, authentic, meaningful, cooperative, and reflective learning activities (Abdoli-Sejzi, 2015; Chen, 2009). Many scholars propose that virtual reality supports constructive learning. Huang and Liaw (2018) concluded that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and learning motivation are three important factors affecting learner intention to use a virtual reality learning environment that supports constructive learning. Winterbottom and Blake (2008) applied constructive learning theory in designing the interface of a virtual environment tool and the content of the VR tool for novice designers. Abdoli-Sejzi (2015) claimed that AR offers rich contextual learning settings and materials which concentrate on how virtual information and real environments mix together to satisfy learning objectives.

Cognitive Learning theory (Boyles, 2017; Christou, 2010). Scholars (Boyles, 2017) defined traditional class strategies as “language-based, conceptual, and abstract” (p. 5). In a VR learning environment, students can actively learn and understand abstract knowledge. Jensen and Konradsen’s (2017) review paper concluded that a user’s cognitive learning skills could be enhanced through virtual reality head-mounted displays, but mostly related to lower-level skills, such as remembering and understanding according to Bloom’s taxonomy. This implies that educators should begin to design VR lessons focusing on how virtual reality technology enhances higher-level cognitive learning skills.

7.2.3 AVR Technology in Language Education

Within the past two years, numerous virtual reality technology applications and platforms have emerged, such as ClassVR, Mondly, ImmerseMe, VirtualSpeech, and Nearpod, which can be applied for language education. ClassVR was launched by Avantis Systems in 2017, and provides comprehensive solutions, including AVR lessons, AVR devices, and AVR contents of different subjects for educators of different levels; Mondly launched Mondly VR in 2017 offering foreign language teachers authentic and situated language communication through VR to enhance immersive language (Douglas, 2017); HundrED launched ImmerseMe in 2020 offering a VR platform with a 360-degree immersive language learning environment where students can communicate with virtual native speakers of one of nine supported languages. VirtualSpeech launched in 2016 as a platform offering a variety of online courses, developing users’ communication skills for public speaking, sales, and leadership. An online instructor leads the course, supported by VR scenarios where students can practice their speech skills accordingly. Nearpod launched Nearpod VR in 2016, where teachers can create interactive lessons engaging students’ participation with multiple interactive tools, including 360-degree VR videos and images, within its online platform.

The aforementioned VR applications and platforms all seem to promote immersion and interactions for learning upon further observations. Table 7.1 shows that they all developed their own online learning management system (LMS) to support learning and teaching with virtual technology, and two of them (ClassVR and Nearpod) even provided teacher training support. Among five companies, Mondly and ImmerseMe aim to promote foreign language learning specifically, and the rest were for general education. In conclusion, an online learning management system, the support of 360-degree VR video, and learning content resources are the top three components for virtual language learning at present.

Table 7.1 The comparisons of the AVR resources
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From an academic point of view, previous research has proven VR technology as a great tool for conveying cultural information, such as in Japanese gestures (Cheng et al., 2018), or to practice intercultural communication skills in a VR open space with native speakers around the world (Liaw, 2019). In addition, the technology promotes memorization and retention (Cowans, 2018), while reducing learning anxiety (Liaw, 2019). Regarding AR technology, it has been widely applied in English education, such as in kindergarten English learning (Hsieh & Lee, 2008; Hsu, 2017), children learning animal names in English (Barreira et al., 2012), college students in EFL English composition (Liu & Tsai, 2013), and adult learners in English listening and speaking learning (Ho et al., 2017). AR technology promotes learning proficiency (Barreira et al., 2012; Hsu, 2017; Liu & Tsai, 2013; Solak & Cakir, 2015) and language learning motivation (Solak & Cakir, 2015). Overall, VR technology can resolve the issue of lacking authentic language practices by providing simulated learning environment for learners and reduce learners’ learning anxiety, while AR technology provides opportunities for learners to interact with the technology, learning materials (e.g., books, cards, and sheets), and learning environments. However, compared to AR technology, VR technology in language education is still in its infancy.

Even though AVR technology has been proven to increase learners’ learning motivation, learners may be excited about the new technology only in the beginning phases of learning, and their motivation may decrease toward the end of the study (Li et al., 2014). Therefore, long-term observations of students’ learning, pedagogical strategies in conjunction with AVR technology, and other teaching resources like a sound lesson plan are crucial elements for teachers interested in integrating AVR technology into language education.

Very few studies have focused on investigating the effects of AR/VR technology from an instructor’s perspective. Lin and Lan (2015) indicated that teachers may play a critical role in terms of continuing to apply virtual reality technology in their instruction, especially for language lessons, but not many other empirical studies have related to in this topic. Thus, there is an urgency for language scholars, educators, and teachers, to not only understanding the effects of AR/VR technology on learning but also understanding teachers’ reactions to it.

7.3 Research Methodology

The researcher of this current study applied a content analysis method to find out (1) the affordance of AR /VR technology in Chinese education and (2) the challenges that Chinese teachers may encounter during implementation.

7.3.1 Research Context

The researcher of this study offered a teacher training course entitled Studies in Technology Learning and Chinese Education during the spring semester of 2018 and 2019. A training model was implemented in five phases: discussion, hands-on activities, lesson planning, research experimentation, and reflection—aimed at determining answers to the research questions. The first three phases—discussion, hands-on activities, and lesson planning—were administered repeatedly as a circular process according to the quantity of the themes until the classroom-based experiment phase was reached. Two themes, AR and VR, were selected in this training course, so the first three phases were each conducted twice accordingly. Then the participants conducted a classroom-based research experiment through their practicum lessons and reflected on what they did in terms of pedagogical approaches, technical issues, and students’ reactions.

In the first phase, discussion, all participants built upon their existing VR and AR technology knowledge by collecting the latest information and news, and reviewing literature from journal articles and books before attending the training sessions. Participants discussed and shared the knowledge they gathered and clarified questions in class. Certain topics discussed in class included AVR technology development in the market, the latest devices and applications, the cases of educational applications, the latest research studies, and its future development.

In the second phase, hands-on activities, once the participants had acquired basic AVR knowledge, accessible technical resources were introduced to the class and teachers were encouraged to develop their own AVR pedagogical techniques through creating hands-on AVR artefacts or directly manipulating the hardware and software. Hands-on activities such as interacting with the AVR storybooks, creating their own AR activities and VR 360-degree tours, using Google Cardboard for associated mobile-based VR apps, experiencing VR goggles (e.g., HTV Vive) and their immersive games/applications, and testing AVR learning platforms. Through these activities, the teachers developed AVR techniques for specific levels, and became aware of the integration potential of such AVR tools into Chinese lessons.

In the third phase, lesson planning, the teachers had experienced a variety of AVR applications and devices, and tried to create a lesson integrating them into their Chinese language classrooms. Based on their students’ learning needs and their teaching objectives, teachers were encouraged to plan Chinese lessons blended with AR materials, VR instructional platforms, and 360-degree videos, respectively, or to mix them accordingly. In this phase, teachers were asked to present their lesson planning proposals to the class. Peers and the researcher of this study provided constructive criticism and suggestions for teachers to modify their lesson plans.

In the fourth phase, experimentation, the teachers implemented classroom research based on their lesson plans from their Chinese language classrooms. All were working on their practicum and role-played in their AVR classrooms as both intern teachers and researchers. At this stage, the participants conducted preliminary research based on their research objectives and methodologies. Several group or focus group discussions were during class sessions and the teachers designed research instruments, and collected and analyzed data to determine the answers to their research questions. At the end of the training sessions, all participants shared their findings.

In the fifth phase, reflections, the teachers first presented their findings as a formal research report with support from a one-and-half minute video presenting their teaching process, AVR materials, students’ reactions, and research findings. Participants reflected on their experiences in terms of their research and teaching roles within their learning journals.

7.3.2 Data Collection

The researcher of this study collected documents, artefacts, lesson plans, video clips, and final reflections, as well as a questionnaire to answer the research questions. A survey was distributed to collect teachers’ demographic information and teachers’ learning reflections on their instructional challenges and achievements.

7.3.3 Research Subjects

This training was implemented twice in the spring semester of 2018 and 2019. In total, 19 Chinese teachers (9 from 2018 and 10 from 2019), who were master-level students, participated in this study. They were organized into groups of two or three working as a team for this five-phase training course. As shown in Table 7.2, the teachers were all pre-service and novice teachers with less than 3-years of Chinese teaching experiences in online or onsite settings.

Table 7.2 Participants’ demographic information
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In 2018, there were 4 groups of intern teachers. Group 1 (W and L) and 2 (Z and R) were teaching 5 children and 1 adolescent at school settings. Group 3 (F and Y) was teaching 1 adult learner online and 1 onsite, and Group 4 (K, H, G) was teaching 1 adult learner. Overall, three adult learners, five children, and one adolescent participated. In total, there was 1 online case, 2 onsite cases, and 1 comparative case (Table 7.3).

Table 7.3 The information of 2018 cases
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In 2019, there were five groups of intern teachers. All of them taught adult learners. 2 out of the five cases were onsite and 3 were online (Table 7.4).

Table 7.4 The information of 2018 cases
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In terms of teaching mode, this study collected four online cases, four onsite cases, and one comparative case over the course of two years. Overall, 10 topics covered in this study aimed to achieve different instructional objectives (see Table 7.5). They aimed to reduce learning anxiety by applying AVR enhanced storybooks (2018 Group1), develop student’s Chinese writing strategies (2018 Group 2), help students overcome difficult pronunciation (2018 Group 3), learn Chinese grammar with story-based AR materials (2019 Group 2), develop students’ communication skills (2019 Group 4), design cultural lessons with AVR materials (2018 Group 4 and 2019 Group 5), and create immersive online business Chinese lessons (2019 Group 1). Surprisingly, there were few overlapping topics, which demonstrated a potential for more variety and possibilities that can be achieved by incorporating this technology. This training mode potentially leads teachers to fully implement well-connected lessons in terms of their practicum and innovative technology instead of replicating previous studies.

Table 7.5 Topics of each cases
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7.4 Cases

To closely observe the applications of AVR technology in Chinese lessons, this section provides brief descriptions of 9 cases based on data from documents, lessons, videos, and final reports from the 19 intern teachers.

7.4.1 Case 1: Elementary Students’ Chinese Lessons

Teachers W and L taught three 3rd graders and one 4th grader in a mainstream school in Taiwan who were all transnational students. According to the intern teachers, most students were not confident with their Chinese abilities when they were in Chinese language-oriented classes. Teachers W and L used a penguin animal book to create a relaxing learning environment with AR technology and 360-degree VR videos, and conducted a two-circle action research study for 8 sessions of Chinese lessons.

In the first session, students read a storybook about penguins, then viewed 360-degree penguin videos. As a final assessment, students talked about what they learned and wrote down sentences in Chinese. For the second session, in order for students to be able to self-read the content of the book, the teachers created AR videos to support the audio form of the content, so that students could read and hear each page of the book while scanning corresponding photos.

7.4.2 Case 2: Teenager’s Writing Lesson

Group 2 was also a case from a transnational student. Teacher Z from group 2 taught a 15-year-old student who was afraid of Chinese composition writing. This group of teachers (Z and R) planned to develop a 4-step strategy to develop the student’s writing and reading competence. They also sought to apply AVR technology to the lesson to create a relaxing learning environment and reduce the anxiety of the learner.

First, the teacher gave the student a sample narrative to read written by the teacher about a field trip to a zoo. Then they worked on the unknown words and determined the structure of the narrative. Second, the teacher applied an AR worksheet to develop the student’s writing skills in modification, such as using adjectives to describe animals, and using conjunctions correctly in sentences. After watching the AR videos, the student was encouraged to describe the animal she saw. Third, 360-degree VR technology was blended with the writing lesson. The student used Google Cardboard to visit a 360-degree virtual zoo in Beijing aimed at providing an immersive and realistic field trip experience. Fourth, the student was encouraged to write down her virtual experiences based on what she had learned about how to write a Chinese narrative.

7.4.3 Case 3: Online and Onsite Adult Learners’ Pronunciation Issues

Teacher F and Teacher Y found that their students, whose native languages were English and Spanish, respectively, had encountered pronunciation difficulties with the Chinese phonetic sounds of j and q. In order to help the individual learners identify and self-correct their errors, the teachers conducted an experiment to see if they could help their students improve upon those two sounds. With AR technology support, they created self-learning materials that showed the positions of speech organs and the placement of articulators for the two sounds.

They first had the students read a short narration with many words containing the sounds of j and q. Then, students used the AR-enhanced learning materials to practice j and q sounds for 15–20 minutes. At the end of the experiment, the students revisited the narrations and read them aloud again.

This experiment was implemented with one online learner first and another one onsite learner second. The teachers and students encountered some technical issues during the onsite session. To resolve these issues, the teachers created a pre-training tutorial showing how to trigger the images for the online session, so that the online student did not encounter similar technical issues. The teachers distributed a questionnaire and recorded the students’ learning experiences to determine out whether the AR material was helpful.

7.4.4 Case 4: Online Cultural Lessons

The teachers from Group 4 were all online teachers. They designed a cultural lesson about the Dragon Boat Festival with AR-enhanced activities. The lesson was aimed at introducing learners to the Dragon Boat Festival, including what Chinese people do and eat during that time. The teachers first explained vocabulary along with cultural information, including the activities and food for the festival. Some vocabulary needed multimedia support when explained, so the students were asked to scan AR-enhanced materials displayed on the screen through their smartphones while the teachers introduced the respective vocabulary. Then, the teachers worked on sentences and text associated with the festival. Last, online interactive activities, such as a dragon boat puzzle, matching, and pairing activities were arranged to assess students’ understanding. The teachers used AR technology to enhance assessment activities for reviewing content and reinforcing students’ learning.

7.4.5 Case 1: Online Business Chinese Lessons

Two teachers (S and X) from Group 1 taught two adult learners online business Chinese. They designed AVR immersive business activities to enhance students’ learning. The theme of the lesson was Attending an Exhibition. The teachers first worked on the vocabulary and dialogue of the lesson and then provided AR interactive materials that students could access on their mobile phones to interact with the virtual characters by recording or typing their responses. As a formative assessment tool, the teachers tried to create an immersive activity close to real-life dialogue and interactions by offering non-linear selections for students to practice their Chinese with the virtual characters. Additionally, 360-degree exhibition photos and videos enabled the students to virtually experience authentic business exhibitions while practicing their business Chinese.

7.4.6 Case 2: Situated Learning for Adult Learners

One adult learner from Teacher YE’s class was selected in this case. The objectives of the lessons were to help the student learn new Chinese sentence structures effectively. The teacher designed AR-enhanced story-based learning materials for this class and implemented three lessons. The student received AR flipped material before each class to preview the learning content. During the class, the teacher used the AR materials to reinforce the grammar she had just taught. With this material, the student practiced the grammar in the story. In lessons 2 and 3, the student was given AR material for homework. In this case, the AR materials were created for previewing, practicing, and reviewing the learning content.

7.4.7 Case 3: Online Chinese Character Lessons

In this case, one adult online learner was selected. The teachers (F and Y) designed an online lesson for Chinese character learning by applying AR learning materials. The teachers used radicals to teach learners to recognize Chinese words. With the support of radical learning sheets embedded within AR scanning codes showing words with the same radicals, students were able to interact with the learning materials to reinforce their learning. The teachers first used HP Reveal for their learning sheets but encountered an issue when the company terminated the app. Therefore, they switched to Metaverse. Additionally, the content of their learning sheets was not challenging enough for the learner, so it was treated as review material.

7.4.8 Case 4: Training Adult learner’s Oral Skills

Teachers (P and T) from Group 4 selected one adult learner as their target learner. They aimed to design a survival Chinese class covering the following topics: sports, shopping, dining, and traveling. With the applications of Metaverse AR and Google Tour Creator with 360-degree images, the teachers conducted a 2-week experiment. The student had an exam at the end of each AVR lesson and the teacher interviewed the student at the end of the experiment to investigate the student’s learning outcomes and perceptions toward the innovative lessons.

7.4.9 Case 5: Online Culture Lesson

Teachers (FU and J) from Group 5 selected an adult learner as their target learner. They designed an AR material for an online cross-cultural course aimed at informing students of cultural differences by introducing Chinese family culture, dining culture, and school culture. The teachers also conducted an action research and applied the AR materials in two lessons to determine their impact on the student’s learning outcome and motivations. In the first lesson, the teacher did not apply the AR materials. In the second lesson, AR material was used as a formative assessment tool for the student to have more interactive exercises. Due to the limitations of the class time, the teachers decided to use the AR materials as take-home exercises in the third lesson, so the student could have sufficient time to practice.

7.5 Findings

This section discusses the researcher’s findings on the affordance of AVR technology in Chinese lessons, and the challenges that intern teachers encountered during implementation.

7.5.1 The Affordance of AR/VR Technology in Learning and Teaching Chinese

From teachers’ final reports, lesson plans, and documents, data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively to conclude the affordance of AVR technology in Chinese lessons. These findings are stated from five perspectives.

  1. 1.

    Learners’ learning motivation: 7 out of 9 cases were designed for adult learners. 1 case was for children (case 1 in 2018) and another was for a teenager (case 2 in 2018). Even though this study did not collect sufficient data on cases for children and teenagers, it proved that AVR technology can be applied in Chinese lessons regardless of learner ages. Compared with adult learners, children and teenagers’ learning excitements in the lessons with AVR technology were much easily triggered than adult learners. Teachers from case 1 in 2018 reported that their students were looking forward to next AVR class after having their first AVR activities. A nervous adult learner from case 4 in 2019 was happy about using the innovative materials when learning Chinese. It was found that there was a different excitement level of reactions toward AVR lessons, and learners could spend their own time and pace to explore or review the learning content. This created less stressful and more enjoyable learning environments for learners who were nervous and had less motivation for Chinese language learning.

  2. 2.

    Lower-level and Higher-level Cognitive Learning Objectives: Teachers from 9 cases set 7 different learning objectives for their AVR lessons. Table 7.6 shows that, overall, close to half of the cases (44%) were about learning vocabulary. Two cases (22%) were for learning culture and engaging in oral practice. Four distinct cases (11%) covered the following objectives: learning grammar, learning how to write Chinese compositions, reading a storybook, and recognizing Chinese characters.

    Table 7.6 Learning objectives of the nine cases
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    According to Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, 9 cases were associated with lower-level cognition learning, such as understanding the content of a storybook (2018 case 1), memorizing vocabulary (2018 cases 2 and 4, 2019 cases 1 and 5), recognizing students’ own learning weaknesses (2018 case 3), understanding Chinese grammar (2019 case 2), recognizing Chinese characters (2019 case 3), and learning factual knowledge associated with Chinese culture (2018 case 4 and 2019 case 5). The lower-level learning objectives seemed easy to achieve using AVR tools in Chinese lessons. These results correspond with the conclusion of Jensen and Konradsen’s (2017) review paper. In addition, this model was also applied to higher-level cognitive lessons. There were 3 cases that set higher-level learning objectives, such as producing a Chinese essay (2018 case 2), applying grammar knowledge in different situations (2019 case 2), and comparing the differences of Chinese and American culture (2019 case 5). Teachers from those cases implemented their AVR enhanced activities with action research to gradually review and modify their learning activities based on students’ learning cognition developments. When integrating innovative technology for language learning, teachers should consider designing lessons for higher-level cognitive skills to produce a much more solid performance in terms of language instruction.

  3. 3.

    Use of AVR Technology Applications: Language teachers are not technicians, so they strongly rely on commercial applications to integrate technology into their lessons, especially with easy-to-use applications that provide creative content. Compared with VR technology, AR applications in this study, HP RevealFootnote 1 and Metaverse, were used by all the intern teachers due to their ease of use. AR applications like HP Reveal, build the experiences based on triggering images of users’ choice, and it is “a pre-supplied trigger (Callum & Parsons, 2019).” It was easily applied into the storybook (2018 case 1), vocabulary worksheet (2018 case 2 and case 4). Metaverse allows learners to import their own contents and answers, such as their artefacts, photos, texts, and answers from multiple choices. Metaverse provides nonlinear navigation features that allow teachers to create various interactive learning activities, such as learning scenarios for business Chinese in 2019 case 1 and survival language in 2019 case 4, and take-home language learning tasks in 2019 case 2. Language instructors can create more activities to construct learners’ learning cognition, which makes AR-enhanced learning more interesting, and also corresponds to Callum and Parsons’ (2019) paper.

    For VR applications or devices, although high-end VR devices, like HTC goggle and its platforms, were introduced during the training, the intern teachers still selected lower-cost and easy to access devices like 360-degree videos in YouTube, Google Tour Creator, and Metaverse’s built-in 360-degree videos, as well as Google Cardboard. Chinese teaching involves many instructional preparations, so it is reasonable that the teachers of this study selected tools with easy use and accessibility in mind. As Table 7.7 shows, none of the cases purely used VR technology for their lessons. However, 4 cases applied a blended mode, combining AR and VR technology in their lessons.

    Table 7.7 The technology and instructional modes of the nine cases
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    Overall, the intern teachers preferred AR over VR. In the current market, it is easier to find more AR applications. Aside from Google VR hardware and software, it is still not easy to locate more VR resources for Chinese lessons. Teachers were most concerned with the technology’s ability to support user-created learning content. Thus, promoting full integration of AVR technology relies heavily on resource diversity and availability in the commercial market.

  4. 4.

    Students’ positive perceptions and attitudes toward AVR technology lessons: Students from all cases, in this study, positively perceived a Chinese lesson supported with AVR technology and believed it to be a helpful learning tool. Five more elements summarizing students’ perceptions and attitudes can be found in Table 7.8 and are discussed below.

    Table 7.8 Learners’ feedback
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First, students’ feedback from three cases (33%) (2018 case 1 and case 2, 2019 case 2) proved a reduction in learning anxiety. Two of those three cases were onsite young learners not confident in learning Chinese. But, with the offering AVR-enhanced materials, the lessons provided them with a typical learning materials like a live storybook and a virtual field trip. Younger Chinese learners with blended virtual and real materials escaped from their stressful lives and their language teachers were akin to classroom magicians. Reducing learning anxiety for language learning definitely promotes learning efficiency, as proven by much research. AVR technology can address this problem and teachers should take the advantage of it, especially novice teachers who may not have matured skills for inspiring their learners to succeed. Second, students became excited for future AVR lessons. Students from more than half of the cases, 5 cases (56%) (2018 case1, 3, 4, and 2019 case 1 and 4), were excited about using AVR materials for learning regardless of their learning modes. Third, students from more than half of the cases, 7 cases (78%), agreed that AVR technology was interesting. Some students (e.g., 2019 case 4) preferred to use it in the classroom, while others (e.g., 2019 case 2 and case 5) preferred to use it as take-home material, and some even used it as flipped learning material (e.g., 2019 case 2). Fourth, students from more than half of the cases, 7 cases (78%), became fully engaged in the activities. Most teachers were happy to see these lessons bring about their students’ best and positive reactions toward Chinese learning. For teachers who encounter student’s engagement issues, AVR technology integration is a great solution to implement.

7.5.2 The Challenges that Teachers May Encounter

During the process of implementing the AVR lessons, the intern teachers encountered different obstacles. This section identifies those obstacles from four perspectives.

  1. 1.

    Insufficient apps/resources on the market for Chinese learning and teaching. A lot of AVR applications were created for English learners, so their contents and resources are mostly in English. Chinese teachers spend considerable amounts of time searching for suitable content in Chinese. The AVR applications such as HP Reveal, Metaverse, and Google Tour Creator used in this study allowed teachers to create custom content for their lessons. This is probably the best alternative to resolve the lack of pre-existing content issue. Until the market offers sufficient resources for Chinese learners, applications providing certain amounts of editable content and facilitating users’ sharing of custom-created content are what educators need.

  2. 2.

    Time management is the biggest obstacle for teachers. Even though creating custom content is currently the best way to design Chinese lessons, teachers still need to spend considerable amounts of time searching for or creating proper multimedia resources. However, teachers who are driven away or given up on this task miss out on the chance to build their own technological knowledge base and development valuable skills in content creation and pedagogical integration of technology in the classroom.

  3. 3.

    Technical issues. Teachers from 5 cases (2018 cases 1, 3, 4, and 2019 cases 2 and 4) reported that they encountered technical issues during class. These issues are classified into the three parts below.

    First is the issue of application stability, e.g., disconnected networks on the learner’s end (2018 case 4) and non-guaranteed connections of AR videos (2018 case 3 and 4), as in the case that used HP Reveal in 2018. Metaverse was much more stable in the 2019 cases, so these issues did not occur again. However, a student from case 3 in 2019 encountered recording issues, and another student from case 2 thought that the Metaverse learning material was not user-friendly enough. This may have been due to unclear instructions provided by the instructor.

    Second is the issue of device accessibility. For those cases (2018 case 1 and case 3) planning to implement an AR lesson with more than one learner, they needed more smartphones for each learner. However, not all learners or institutions have access to such devices. Insufficient mobile devices or Google Cardboards for learners can be a recurring issue.

    Third is the issue of device compatibility. Learners’ devices may not be able to run AR materials. From case 4 in 2018, a student’s mobile device did not support the AR materials created with HP Reveal. However, in 2019, no such issue occurred. In cases where students own older devices, teachers planning to implement innovative technologies should double-check the compatibility limitations of such devices. The rapid modernization and regular development of common technologies may render this issue obsolete in the near future.

    Teachers should embrace their failures for offering valuable information for professional development.

  4. 4.

    Pre-training. Teachers in 2018 cases 3 and 4, and 2019 case 5 encountered technical issues that compelled students to spend a lot of time figuring out how to download and use the app, and learning how to use the materials. Language students conducting activities associated with technology need clear instructions and a decent amount of practice time. If these two critical elements are lacking, all the lesson plans may be severely impacted and thrown off schedule. Therefore, a pre-training lesson should be provided to confirm users’ understanding of how to activate the AR videos, use the VR devices, and check all hardware, software, and network connections. Teachers should prepare tutorials and guiding manuals for both online and onsite learners.

7.6 Conclusion

In the field of teaching and learning Chinese as second/foreign language, AVR technology is still new for many language teachers. The researcher of this study conducted two years of teacher training courses in 5 phases associated with integrating AR/VR technology into Chinese lessons to not only train Chinese teachers to develop their technical and pedagogical knowledge of innovative technology integration but also investigate their teaching cases on a wider base.

It was found that AVR technology can be applied to learners of any age, as well as with a variety of learning objectives. Learners’ perceived AVR lessons positively as an interesting and relaxing lessons. For learners who are anxious and nervous about learning Chinese, especially young learners, such lessons created self-learning moments for them to explore, find, and review learning content at their own pace, and also provided secure moments to disengage from overwhelming teacher-centered learning time. Therefore, many learners in this study liked the AVR technology.

Regarding learning objectives from the nine cases. Most of the teachers in this study applied AVR activities to practice lower-level learning cognition, such as remembering vocabulary, understanding dialogue, and applying knowledge to other scenarios. Such results also corresponded with Jensen and Konradsen’s (2017) study. Only 3 learning activities were involved in higher-level cognitive learning activities associated with analyzing, evaluation, and creation. Lower-level cognitive exercises seemed to be easier to implement when planning a Chinese lesson with AVR technology. For teachers seeking to work with AVR technology for higher-level learning activities, they must first gain experience with AVR technology integration and become familiar with those techniques from lower-level activities, then work on designing their own higher-level cognitive activities. Therefore, the suggestion for teacher trainers is to encourage teachers unfamiliar with the technology to begin with lower-level cognitive exercises and work up to higher-level cognitive exercises over time.

The challenges the teachers of this study encountered included a lack of Chinese learning content on the market, time-consuming course preparation, technical issues, and a lack of pre-training guidelines. It is not surprising that Chinese teachers are unable to find sufficient Chinese content and resources for AVR applications, since Chinese language education does not dominate the digital learning world. Globally, English learners are the biggest group in terms of second/foreign language acquisition. Thus, AVR applications providing certain levels of resources and allowing users to create their own content are the best choices for Chinese teachers at the present time. Creating digital content is indeed time-consuming, especially for innovative technology, so teachers need to develop skills in recycling AVR materials created by themselves for different instructional objectives. For instance, using AR flash cards to help students review vocabulary and adapting the same to create story building activities. In this way, teachers will not spend as much time in creating content from scratch and can instead brainstorm how to apply their digital materials toward different learning tasks and objectives.

Due to the rapid development of AVR technology, factors like users’ devices, internet environments, and learners’ digital skills may affect the implementation of AVR lessons. It is important for teachers of first-time AVR technology learners to provide clear instructions to guide users in navigating the digital materials in advance of the integrated lessons, so that teachers can mitigate technical issues ahead of time and prepare a backup lesson plan. For online AVR lessons, learners may need multiple devices, including a laptop and mobile device for AVR exercises. Providing guidelines or pre-training sessions is crucial. However, once learners become familiar with the technology tools, pre-training sessions and instructions are only suggested for learners with weak digital literacy.

In terms of instructional design, the AVR activities in this study were implemented for the following purposes: flipped learning materials, supporting in-class activities, after-class assignments, self-learning resources, cultural lessons, and business Chinese scenarios. With the five-phase training process, the teachers of the study were able to develop their own AVR activities for their Chinese lessons at the end of training. Through literature discussions, lesson plan sharing, and frequent hands-on exercises, most of the teachers were not only able to have a better understanding of how to design AVR lessons for Chinese courses but also shared their own AVR technology lessons with teachers who were working on similar goals, and raised awareness of how to execute innovative lessons. Particularly, blending research with teacher training compelled intern teachers to investigate their teaching ideology fully, construct innovative lessons based on their research, and thoroughly understand learners’ reactions to their approaches. More classroom-based research and applications geared toward younger learners or adolescents is not only encouraged for future intern teachers in future training sessions, but is also necessary to close the literature gap.

For suggestions of further research and courses on AVR technology, there is no doubt that a well-developed teacher training course guiding those teachers, as an instructor and a researcher, in planning a lesson and executing their plan is important. Training teachers to become life-long learners who are willing to challenge themselves to use innovative tools and continue trying new technologies is crucial. Regarding applications of different learners, this study did not have sufficient young learners or adolescent learner cases. In addition, in-service teacher training or combined two groups training is also suggested. Future research and teacher training educators should encourage teachers to implement more lessons targeting these participants.