Work

Reducing English Speaking Anxiety and Building Communicative Competence Through Multimodal Immersive Virtual Environments: A Mixed-Methods Study of the Serial Mediation of Presence and Self-Efficacy Among Chinese University EFL Learners

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Introduction: Speaking anxiety is a persistent affective barrier for Chinese university EFL learners, yet how immersive technology reduces this anxiety while simultaneously building competence remains theoretically underspecified. This study tested whether a Multimodal Immersive Virtual Environment (MIVE), through the serial mediation of presence and foreign language self-efficacy, can lower speaking anxiety and strengthen communicative competence, addressing the absence of psychologically grounded mechanism-testing in prior MIVE research. Methods: A mixed-methods embedded experimental design (quasi-experimental core with embedded qualitative strand) was used with 126 non-English major undergraduates (experimental n = 64, control n = 62) at a Chinese university, assessed at pretest, posttest, and a six-week delayed posttest across a 12-week intervention. The experimental group received MIVE-based oral English instruction (VirtuSpeak platform); the control group received traditional multimedia-assisted instruction. Group differences were tested with ANCOVA and repeated-measures ANOVA; the serial mediation of presence and self-efficacy was tested with structural equation modeling (bootstrap 95% CI, 5,000 resamples); semi-structured interviews (n = 20) and reflective journals were analyzed thematically to triangulate the quantitative findings. Results: = 0.231) than traditional instruction, with communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, pragmatic competence, and interactional competence showing the largest gains; effects were retained at the six-week delayed posttest. Presence and self-efficacy sequentially mediated 71.2% of MIVE's total effect on anxiety and 68.7% of its effect on competence, with the presence→self-efficacy serial pathway alone accounting for approximately 22% of the total indirect effect. Discussion: By coupling a delayed posttest with a theoretically grounded serial mediation test and a four-dimensional competence measure, this study clarifies the psychological pathway, presence building self-efficacy, which in turn lowers anxiety and strengthens competence, through which immersive technology exerts its instructional effect, offering both a mechanism-based theoretical account and design guidance (prioritizing presence and self-efficacy) for immersive language pedagogy.

Source: Psychology Research and Behavior Management

DOI: 10.2147/prbm.s632160

Authors: Weizhen Gao, Chengzhang Zou

Institutions: Shandong Institute of Petroleum and Chemical Technology, China University of Petroleum, Beijing

Language: English

Topic: EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning

Subfield: Language and Linguistics

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Quality education, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,836