Adaptive Spelling in Immersive Reality: The Impact of Gamified VR and LLMs on Young Learners’ English Color Word Acquisition

Spelling is a crucial language skill, yet traditional instruction often relies on rote memorization rather than meaningful learning. Despite various approaches to spelling instruction, the potential of virtual reality (VR) along with the integration of gamification and LLMs, remains underexplored. T...

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Main Authors: Jalal Safari Bazargani, Abolghasem Sadeghi-Niaraki, Xinyu Shi, Soo-Mi Choi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11087543/
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author Jalal Safari Bazargani
Abolghasem Sadeghi-Niaraki
Xinyu Shi
Soo-Mi Choi
author_facet Jalal Safari Bazargani
Abolghasem Sadeghi-Niaraki
Xinyu Shi
Soo-Mi Choi
author_sort Jalal Safari Bazargani
collection DOAJ
description Spelling is a crucial language skill, yet traditional instruction often relies on rote memorization rather than meaningful learning. Despite various approaches to spelling instruction, the potential of virtual reality (VR) along with the integration of gamification and LLMs, remains underexplored. This study explores a VR-based, gamified approach using LLM-driven adaptive learning to improve spelling acquisition of English color words among young learners. The study employed a quasi-experimental, pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The participants were 50 male students aged 10, divided into an experimental group (N=25) that used the LLM-enhanced VR game and a control group (N=25) that received traditional instruction. The VR intervention consisted of a three-stage game built on the whole-word approach, featuring gamified elements and adaptive feedback from an LLM. Data were collected via spelling tests (pre-test, immediate post-test, and delayed post-test), user experience surveys, and semi-structured interviews. Results showed that the VR-based approach, significantly improved spelling performance and engagement. Specifically, the experimental group demonstrated substantially higher scores in both immediate vocabulary uptake and long-term retention after one week compared to the control group. Furthermore, qualitative and survey data indicated the VR experience was perceived as significantly more interesting, effective, and motivating. These findings highlight the potential of immersive, gamified learning environments to enhance spelling education, offering an effective alternative to conventional methods.
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spelling doaj-art-0276ce12b2f04129980d772790098f932025-08-20T03:31:34ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-011313178913180210.1109/ACCESS.2025.359111411087543Adaptive Spelling in Immersive Reality: The Impact of Gamified VR and LLMs on Young Learners’ English Color Word AcquisitionJalal Safari Bazargani0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1062-6395Abolghasem Sadeghi-Niaraki1Xinyu Shi2Soo-Mi Choi3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6710-1434Department of Computer Science and Engineering and Convergence Engineering for Intelligent Drone, XR Research Center, Sejong University, Seoul, South KoreaDepartment of Computer Science and Engineering and Convergence Engineering for Intelligent Drone, XR Research Center, Sejong University, Seoul, South KoreaDepartment of Korean Linguistics, The Academy of Korean Studies, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South KoreaDepartment of Computer Science and Engineering and Convergence Engineering for Intelligent Drone, XR Research Center, Sejong University, Seoul, South KoreaSpelling is a crucial language skill, yet traditional instruction often relies on rote memorization rather than meaningful learning. Despite various approaches to spelling instruction, the potential of virtual reality (VR) along with the integration of gamification and LLMs, remains underexplored. This study explores a VR-based, gamified approach using LLM-driven adaptive learning to improve spelling acquisition of English color words among young learners. The study employed a quasi-experimental, pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The participants were 50 male students aged 10, divided into an experimental group (N=25) that used the LLM-enhanced VR game and a control group (N=25) that received traditional instruction. The VR intervention consisted of a three-stage game built on the whole-word approach, featuring gamified elements and adaptive feedback from an LLM. Data were collected via spelling tests (pre-test, immediate post-test, and delayed post-test), user experience surveys, and semi-structured interviews. Results showed that the VR-based approach, significantly improved spelling performance and engagement. Specifically, the experimental group demonstrated substantially higher scores in both immediate vocabulary uptake and long-term retention after one week compared to the control group. Furthermore, qualitative and survey data indicated the VR experience was perceived as significantly more interesting, effective, and motivating. These findings highlight the potential of immersive, gamified learning environments to enhance spelling education, offering an effective alternative to conventional methods.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11087543/Virtual realitygamificationVR learning environmentspellingvocabulary acquisition
spellingShingle Jalal Safari Bazargani
Abolghasem Sadeghi-Niaraki
Xinyu Shi
Soo-Mi Choi
Adaptive Spelling in Immersive Reality: The Impact of Gamified VR and LLMs on Young Learners’ English Color Word Acquisition
IEEE Access
Virtual reality
gamification
VR learning environment
spelling
vocabulary acquisition
title Adaptive Spelling in Immersive Reality: The Impact of Gamified VR and LLMs on Young Learners’ English Color Word Acquisition
title_full Adaptive Spelling in Immersive Reality: The Impact of Gamified VR and LLMs on Young Learners’ English Color Word Acquisition
title_fullStr Adaptive Spelling in Immersive Reality: The Impact of Gamified VR and LLMs on Young Learners’ English Color Word Acquisition
title_full_unstemmed Adaptive Spelling in Immersive Reality: The Impact of Gamified VR and LLMs on Young Learners’ English Color Word Acquisition
title_short Adaptive Spelling in Immersive Reality: The Impact of Gamified VR and LLMs on Young Learners’ English Color Word Acquisition
title_sort adaptive spelling in immersive reality the impact of gamified vr and llms on young learners x2019 english color word acquisition
topic Virtual reality
gamification
VR learning environment
spelling
vocabulary acquisition
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11087543/
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