‘Can we go to Tower Bridge?’: teaching British culture from text to immersive realities

In this paper, we investigated the use of immersive virtual environments, namely the metaverse, in teaching culture in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts. We examined the significance of (in)direct cultural experiences through digital technology, including textual materials, images, videos, 360-VR-photos, and the metaverse. The study took place over a 15-week undergraduate course on learning British and American culture which discovered the need for a new teaching method for more enhanced cultural immersion and learning. To this end, this study created the metaverse platform, which was developed using Unity and integrated with VR Chat. Creating the platform was based on the novel 'Around the World in 80 Days' and featured British landmarks and interactive learning content with non-player characters (NPCs), providing a comprehensive and immersive cultural learning experience. A survey was conducted to evaluate various learning elements students experienced, and the results revealed that the metaverse was the most effective in all areas, significantly enhancing the immersive and interactive experience. Students' reflection papers also confirmed the benefits of the metaverse in cultural learning; however, they also mentioned issues such as reduced immersion over time, connectivity problems, and potential distractions. Based on the findings, this study concludes that the metaverse could be a transformative educational tool, fostering deeper cultural experiences based on immersive engagement in EFL contexts.