Student Beliefs About VR Use for Speaking Practice

Public Speaking Anxiety (PSA) is considered the greatest stressor of oral communication and has been found to be especially true among foreign language learners.In-vivo and in-vitro exposure therapy has been a standard treatment of various forms of anxiety, however, these forms of therapy can often be impractical or impossible to conduct in the classroom.Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) is an alternative which has become more viable for classroom application.There is a noticeable lack of research in participant beliefs in the usage of VRET in the ESL classroom.This study aims to explore these beliefs.The purpose of this study was to assess learner beliefs about using VRET as a speech practice tool in the classroom.The findings in the qualitative study indicated that while some students had some reservation about using this technology, students expressed more positive responses overall.