TITLE:
The Dissonance between Disengagement and Emergence: The Case of Using VR for Learning English in Higher Education
AUTHORS:
Hila Weiss, Yael Dubinsky
KEYWORDS:
Virtual Reality (VR), Language Learning Anxiety, Student Agency and Authorship
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.14 No.6,
June
30,
2026
ABSTRACT: This paper examines how an immersive virtual reality (VR) environment, built and experienced through a no-code platform, can transform students’ relationship with English as a foreign language in higher education. In a series of VR-based learning activities, students designed and enacted interactive VR scenarios in English. The project revealed a striking dissonance in which students who reported longstanding disengagement, anxiety, or lack of confidence in traditional English classes described themselves as playful, expressive, and increasingly agentive within VR. We conceptualize this shift as a move from disengagement to emergent language use, enabled by the altered social presence and perceived distance from the real-world classroom. Students reported high enjoyment, a sense of freedom from external judgment, reduced focus on linguistic correctness, and increased willingness to take risks in English. The paper describes the pedagogical design, analyses student experiences, and discusses implications for technology-enhanced language learning and the design of VR-mediated higher-education courses.