The effectiveness of an AI-integrated VR oral training application in reducing public speaking anxiety and interview anxiety

Despite the growing importance of English oral communication skills, traditional language learning approaches show limited effectiveness in simultaneously addressing psychological barriers and speaking proficiency among college students. While previous studies have explored anxiety reduction or speaking enhancement separately, a significant gap exists in research examining integrated approaches that tackle Public Speaking Anxiety (PSA), Interview Anxiety, and English-speaking proficiency improvement simultaneously. This study investigated whether an AI-integrated VR oral training application could effectively address these interconnected challenges. A quasi-experimental design was employed with 20 English major students from a mid-central university in Taiwan. Participants completed five training sessions using Meta Quest 2 headsets and an AI-integrated VR oral training application providing tailored feedback on pronunciation, grammar, and fluency based on IELTS standards. Pre- and post-intervention assessments utilized validated instruments including the Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA) and Measure of Anxiety in Selection Interviews (MASI), alongside comprehensive speaking proficiency measures. Results demonstrated significant improvements in English speaking proficiency, including increased sentence length and word count, with grammatical errors and incomplete sentences decreasing markedly (p < .001). Concurrently, significant reductions in both PRPSA and MASI scores (p < .05) were observed, though lexical diversity showed slight decline. VR-related motion-sickness symptoms were mildly alleviated, and participants' perceived control increased significantly (p < .05), while interest and attention levels remained stable. These findings suggest that AI-integrated VR oral training applications can effectively enhance English speaking proficiency while simultaneously reducing anxiety levels and improving self-efficacy among English learners. The study addresses a critical research gap by demonstrating the potential of integrated technological approaches to tackle multiple barriers to effective English oral communication, offering promising implications for language education and anxiety management in academic contexts.