ÉVEIL (Environnements Virtuels pour l’Éducation Immersive au développement durable en Langue française) is a FEF-R (Fonds Equipe France Rapide) project, led by IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement) and funded by SCAC (the Cultural Affairs and Cooperation Service of the French Embassy) and the Institut Français. It is an extension of the SIMPLE project, developed by IRD, dedicated to designing virtual reality (VR) activities to raise adolescents’ awareness of environmental issues. ÉVEIL offers pedagogical activities specifically designed for French-language classrooms, centered around the themes of waste collection and sorting, immersing students in an immersive learning environment called “Operation Zero Waste.”

Technological Training for French Language Teachers

Since July 2025, the ÉVEIL project has collaborated with 31 French language teachers from 6 Vietnamese high schools: Hanoi-Amsterdam for the gifted and Chu Van An in Hanoi, Quoc Hoc Hue in Hue, Le Quy Đon in Da Nang, Ly Tu Trong in Can Tho, and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai in Ho Chi Minh City. 13 of them received training on the project’s technological tools and pedagogical content in March 2026. This training focused in particular on the use of virtual reality headsets and the various accessories provided in the M2L2 (Mobile Metaverse Learning Lab) – equipment designed by IRD that integrates everything needed to run VR game sessions, specifically built to be accessible to people without technical expertise and without the need for specialist assistance.

The Active Participation of Teachers and Students

Teachers were invited to adapt the pedagogical resources provided by ÉVEIL to better meet the specific needs of each class and their own teaching preferences. Many demonstrated remarkable creativity in designing additional interactive activities, thereby enriching the learning experience in the classroom.

Students were also active participants throughout the programme. Not only did they independently handle the virtual reality equipment under their teachers’ supervision, but they also showed initiative and creativity by producing awareness posters, recycled objects, and written texts on the themes of waste management and sorting.

The Impact of ÉVEIL

All of these activities, from VR gameplay to text production, provided valuable opportunities for students to develop their French language skills. During the project’s implementation across the six participating schools, students at B1–B2 level were able to expand their vocabulary around the theme of pollution and build confidence through debates and discussions on environmental issues conducted in French by their teachers.

At the close of the project, the M2L2 units will be handed over to the Institut Français of Da Nang and Hue, the French high schools Alexandre Yersin and Marguerite Duras in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, as well as Ly Tu Trong high school in Can Tho. Specific agreements will be signed with IRD by each of these institutions, including financial support for maintenance and the organisation of activities with partner Vietnamese schools. These agreements will ensure continued access to virtual reality for French language teachers wishing to integrate it into their lessons. Each participating teacher will also receive the ÉVEIL Teacher’s Guide, a handbook designed to support them in independently implementing the activities after the project concludes.

This project is the result of a successful partnership between the Institut Français, committed to the promotion and teaching of French, and IRD, which contributed its scientific and technological expertise. By training teachers directly, it aimed to encourage a more creative, digitally grounded pedagogical approach to foreign language teaching and environmental education in Vietnam. Based on the feedback from both students and teachers involved in this rewarding experience, the team is confident that it will encourage educators to adopt innovative tools, such as virtual reality, in their teaching practice, not only for environmental education but also for language learning.