An exploratory study on the development of pre-service English teachers’ VR-contextualized testing prototype

This research aims to examine the roles of virtual reality (VR) in high-stakes language testing. To this end, 23 pre-service EFL teachers used a user-friendly VR creation tool, Delightex Edu, to transform Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) questions into a VR-contextualized testing prototype, as well as providing their perspectives on its potential and application. The data analysis focused on exploring the key features of the prototype based on the communicative language teaching (CLT) principles, and reflected on the findings using word-concordance network analysis. The thematic analysis of the testing content reveals that integrating VR with non-player characters (NPCs) adds a new level of authenticity to language use and skills integration for multimodal language learning. The keyword analysis shows that VR can stimulate test-takers’ interest and engagement by immersing them in authentic environments and providing various contextual cues. However, there are some concerns about technological support and infrastructural issues, such as accessibility and prolonged exposure in virtual environments, in addition to motion sickness and fatigue. There are also practical concerns regarding the effort and time required for creating such testing items. Based on these findings, this study suggests the implications for language teachers and stakeholders to make changes in language testing.