ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Assessment, Testing and Applied Measurement
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1641638
Evaluating Metaverse-based L2 Vocabulary Learning Effectiveness Using a Proposed Metric of Vocabulary Forgetting Percentage
Provisionally accepted
- National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
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Abstract: Vocabulary gain and retention are key metrics in second language (L2) vocabulary learning, yet they often overlook the proportional loss of learned vocabulary over time. This study introduces a percentage-based metric—Vocabulary Forgetting Percentage (VFP)—to address this limitation. A quasi-experiment involving 50 Chinese middle school EFL learners compared metaverse-based vocabulary learning (MG) with slides-assisted learning (SG). Across three sessions, participants learned equivalent vocabulary content and completed pretests, immediate post-tests, and delayed post-tests. Independent-samples t-tests were used to compare vocabulary gains, retentions, and VFPs. The MG significantly outperformed the SG in vocabulary gain and retention in each session and in mean scores. However, VFP results showed a different pattern: the MG's third-session and mean VFPs were significantly lower than those of the SG, while differences in the first and second sessions were not significant. Hence, this late-emerging VFP difference suggests that extended exposure to immersive environments may be required before full benefits appear. Findings confirm the pedagogical potential of the metaverse for vocabulary learning and empirically validate VFP as a complementary metric. By proportionally quantifying vocabulary loss, VFP offers researchers and educators a more nuanced tool for evaluating learning efficiency and retention sustainability in varied L2 contexts.
Keywords: vocabulary forgetting, Vocabulary retention, Vocabulary gain, Second Language Acquisition, Metaverse, L2 vocabulary learning, learning effectiveness metrics
Received: 05 Jun 2025; Accepted: 19 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Hashim and Md Yunus. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Mike Minwen Zhang, National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
Harwati Hashim, National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
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