Educational environment of virtual reality as a means of developing the communicative competence in teaching a foreign language

This paper addresses the issue of the appropriateness of using virtual reality in the educational process, especially when studying a foreign language and developing the communicative competence as its main component. The means of virtual reality are increasingly being introduced into various spheres of our life, including the educational environment in many foreign countries. The paper lists the main possibilities of virtual reality, especially those ones that are most applicable for the productive use during the educational process. The definition of the communicative competence with its main components is given in the paper. The author gives an example of an already developed educational program based on the elements of virtual reality, and its active and efficient use in the modern world of education for teaching a second language. At the end of the paper the author comes to the conclusion that the various means of information technologies based on virtual reality serve as an excellent way to develop the communicative competence for teaching a foreign language.

virtual reality, foreign language, information technologies, communicative competence, educational environment