English as a foreign language (EFL) writing is vital in interpersonal and cross-cultural communication. Writing refers to a complicated, dispersed, dialogic, and mediated process of discovery and creation, generally considered to be one of the most challenging skills for EFL learners. Nowadays, some students struggle to create words that resonate with readers since they lack real-life experience and empathy cultivation. Virtual reality (VR) not only provides realistic experiences but is also known as the “ultimate empathy machine.” Therefore, this study proposed an empathetic VR-based learning (E-VRL) approach to provide learners with access to authentic experiences and further promote learner empathy. To assess the validity of this approach, 63 junior high school students were recruited to participate in a quasi-experiment, and were randomly divided into an experimental group (EG) which used the E-VRL approach and a control group (CG) which used the VR-based learning (VRL) approach. The results showed that the E-VRL approach improved students’ cognitive empathy and dialogic empathy more than the VRL approach. Additionally, it was found that students in the EG outperformed those in the CG in terms of the use of ideas and content, word choice, and voice in their writing. This study proves the efficacy of the presented E-VRL approach, and provides valuable insights for future research on the design of VR-based EFL writing activities and VR environments.

中文翻译：

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从经验到同理心：基于 VR 的同理心学习方法可提高英语学习者的同理心和写作表现


英语作为外语（EFL）写作对于人际和跨文化交流至关重要。写作是一个复杂的、分散的、对话的、中介的发现和创造过程，通常被认为是英语学习者最具挑战性的技能之一。如今，一些学生由于缺乏现实生活经验和同理心培养，很难创造出能引起读者共鸣的词语。虚拟现实（VR）不仅提供逼真的体验，还被称为“终极共情机器”。因此，本研究提出了一种基于虚拟现实的共情学习（E-VRL）方法，为学习者提供真实的体验，并进一步促进学习者的同理心。为了评估该方法的有效性，招募了 63 名初中生参加准实验，并随机分为使用 E-VRL 方法的实验组（EG）和使用 E-VRL 方法的对照组（CG）。基于 VR 的学习 (VRL) 方法。结果表明，E-VRL 方法比 VRL 方法更能提高学生的认知共情和对话共情。此外，我们发现 EG 的学生在写作中的想法和内容、词语选择和语气的使用方面优于 CG 的学生。这项研究证明了所提出的 E-VRL 方法的有效性，并为未来基于 VR 的 EFL 写作活动和 VR 环境的设计研究提供了宝贵的见解。