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FIU professors awarded Stevens Initiative grant to build virtual reality experience in support of second language acquisition
By Alexandra Bassil
With funding from a $543,439 grant awarded by the Stevens Initiative, FIU researchers will use virtual reality (VR) to create an English-Arabic language learning community: “Virtual Tabadul” (meaning
exchange in Arabic). The Tabadul project will gather evidence-based research on whether virtual learning fosters second language acquisition by using virtual feedback as compared to traditional classroom style teaching methods.
The Virtual Tabadul project brings together college-aged youth in the United States and in the Middle East and North Africa for language learning and community building through VR. FIU and University of Michigan-Dearborn students enrolled in Arabic as a foreign language will be paired with college students at Oum El Bouaghi University in Algeria and Ibn Tofail U