Fostering tsunami awareness and vocabulary acquisition through VR: integrating SDG 13 into English education

Coastal regions increasingly face climate-related hazards such as tsunamis, highlighting an urgent need for schools to equip young learners with disaster-preparedness knowledge in line with Sustainable Development Goal 13 (Climate Action). Yet SDG 13 is still rarely integrated systematically into English language education, particularly in EFL contexts. This study investigates the integration of SDG 13 (Climate Action) into English language education using 360° virtual reality (VR) to improve students’ vocabulary acquisition and tsunami awareness. A quasi-experimental design was adopted with 96 junior high school students in Taiwan, divided into two groups: an immersive VR group (HiVR) and a desktop video group (LiVR). Both groups engaged with the same SDG-themed 360° videos but through different interaction methods. Vocabulary and disaster knowledge were assessed using pre- and post-tests, and data were analyzed through independent samples t-tests and ANCOVA. The results revealed that the VR group significantly outperformed the desktop group in vocabulary acquisition and showed higher tsunami awareness scores after controlling for prior knowledge. These findings indicate that immersive VR offers an effective means of contextualized vocabulary learning and enhances student engagement in tsunami- and climate-related English education. The study highlights the potential of VR as a pedagogical tool that supports both language development and sustainability-oriented disaster education in EFL contexts.