Embodied word learning in schools and sustained attention in virtual reality.

ABSTRACT: This study examined whether immersive virtual reality (VR) supports second-language vocabulary learning in school-aged children compared to passive computer-based training. Seventy-three Swedish middle-school students learned novel words by assembling objects in VR and by viewing object assembly on a computer screen in a crossover design. Word recall was tested after each condition, and individual differences in language aptitude and sustained attention were assessed. Overall, recall was higher after computer-based training than VR. However, sustained attention was the strongest predictor of learning outcomes, and the difference between conditions was (marginally) significant only for children with higher sustained attention. No VR behavioural measures (gaze, assembly time, rotation) expla

SUBMITTER: Rudling M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12804862 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature