How does immersion compare to classroom learning for language mastery

Immersion learning generally leads to superior language mastery compared to traditional classroom learning due to continuous exposure to the target language in diverse, real-life contexts. It promotes fluency and communicative competence by providing practical usage opportunities, while classroom learning emphasizes structured grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation instruction to improve accuracy. However, immersion can be intimidating and less structured, potentially affecting academic progress for some learners. The effectiveness of both depends on individual factors such as motivation, aptitude, and age, making a balanced approach combining immersion and classroom instruction often the most comprehensive for language mastery. ^{1, 2}

Immersion Learning Benefits

• Provides constant exposure in real-life contexts.
• Encourages fluency and communicative competence.
• Has shown superior language proficiency outcomes in immersion students.
• Can leverage virtual reality and multimodal tools for enhanced engagement and vocabulary acquisition. ^{3, 4, 5, 1}

Classroom Learning Advantages

• Structured environment focusing on grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation.
• Supports accuracy and foundational knowledge.
• Effective in facilitating formal language instruction, especially with mastery goal structures and self-efficacy encouragement. ^{6, 7, 1}

Challenges and Considerations

• Immersion can be intimidating and overwhelming for some learners.
• Interaction opportunities matter; less interaction in immersion may reduce vocabulary growth compared to community-based learning.
• Motivation, learning style, and outside-class practice impact outcomes.
• Combining both immersion and classroom learning may yield best results for fluency and accuracy development. ^{8, 1}

In summary, immersion fosters practical fluency and contextual language skills, while classroom learning provides important structured fundamentals. Optimal language mastery often results from integrating both approaches tailored to individual learner needs. ^{2, 1, 8}

References

• Effectiveness of Immersive Language Learning: An Investigation into English Language Acquisition in Immersion Environments Versus Traditional Classroom Settings

• Losing Access to the Native Language While Immersed in a Second Language: Evidence for the Role of Inhibition in Second-Language Learning

• Virtual Reality-Integrated Immersion-Based Teaching to English Language Learning Outcome

• Multimodal immersion in English language learning in higher education: A systematic review

• Immersive Virtual Reality as an Effective Tool for Second Language Vocabulary Learning

• Mastery goal, task value, and self-efficacy as joint predictors of self-regulation in EFL learning: A conditional process modeling

• Evaluating the impact of spaced practice using computer-assisted language learning (CALL) on vocabulary learning in the classroom

• The impact of out-of-school L2 input and interaction on adolescent classroom immersion and community-L2 learners’ L2 vocabulary: opportunities for interaction are key

• The Power of Language Learning Beyond the Classroom to English Mastery of an EFL Learner

• Student engagement in foreign language learning: relations with classroom goal structure, self-efficacy, and gender

• The English VS Non-English Leaning Strategies Used by The Students In Learning English: A Survey On International Classroom in One Public University in Indonesia

• Task-Based Language Learning and Beginning Language Learners: Examining Classroom-Based Small Group Learning in Grade 1 French Immersion

• MASTERY OF SPANISH MORPHOLOGY AND SYNTAX THROUGH E- LEARNING AMONG MALAYSIAN STUDENTS

• Interventionist vs. interactionist models of dynamic assessment (DA) in the EFL classroom: impacts on speaking accuracy and fluency (SAF), foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA), and foreign language learning motivation (FLLM)

• Virtual Reality-Integrated Immersion-Based Teaching to English Language Learning Outcome

• Facilitating writing performance of EFL learners via virtual reality: Immersion, presence, embodiment

• English Language Teaching Methods: Exploring the Impact of Various Approaches on Students’ Language Learning Outcomes

• What Students Do with Words: Language Use and Communicative Function in Full and Partial Immersion Classrooms

• The Evidence of Different Learning Environment Learning Effects on Vocabulary Size and Reading Comprehension

• The Evidence of Different Learning Environment Learning Effects on Vocabulary Size and Reading Comprehension

• Immersion in dual-language programs does not impede children’s native language processing

• Immersive Virtual Reality: A Novel Approach to Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition in K-12 Education

• The Processes of Teaching Languages to Sixth Grade Students in an International Immersion School in a Midwestern City, U.S.A

• Integration or Immersion? A Comparative Study at the Tertiary Level

• Using Immersion Teaching Process to Develop EFL Learners’ Speaking skill

• A systematic review of foreign language learning with immersive technologies (2001-2020)