IMMER-LIT

Participating institutions and countries 

IMMER-LIT brings together experts in ESP (English for Specific Purposes) from 7 universities across Spain, Romania, and Finland.

Years running: 2025-2027

Language: English

Students:

IMMER-LIT involves UVic-UCC students from FCTE (Faculty of Science Technology and Engineering). The 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 cohort studying Engineering Communication Skills (Mechatronics Engineering, Automotive Engineering) and Multimedia Communication Skills (Multimedia, Applications and Videogames) are taking part with their COIL projects.  

Project goals

IMMER-LIT or "Developing disciplinary literacies through immersive environments in English for Specific Purposes" is an exciting new research project headed by Elisabet Arno and Marta Aguilar from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and funded by the  Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain | AGENCIA ESTATAL DE INVESTIGACIÓN.  

IMMER-LIT is examining how university engineering students communicate in English through Virtual Reality (VR) and Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL). These immersive environments simulate professional communication in the workplace and allow engineering students to practice workplace skills in a supportive learning space.  

IMMER-LIT aims to analyse academic and professional genres, explore disciplinary literacy development and analyse motivation and self-confidence in VR and COIL. By adopting an ethnographic, mixed-method approach IMMER-LIT will analyse communication in immersive environments through students' productions, questionnaires, reflective diaries, interviews and classroom practices.   

IMMER-LIT brings together experts in ESP (English for Specific Purposes) from 7 universities across Spain, Romania, and Finland. These researchers are pooling their knowledge and experience in disciplinary literacies and technology-enhanced learning to help universities design more authentic international engineering education.  

Activities: 

Watch out for IMMERLIT researchers in upcoming conferences and publications for a glimpse of the emerging project results and to explore how to provide engineers with the best form of education through VR and COIL. 

Contact: scientific coordinators