Beyond immersion: Investigating the impact of SVVR on FLCA in a Chinese EFL speaking class.

Although spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) has demonstrated efficacy in enhancing English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learning outcomes, its impact on foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) within speaking contexts remains underexplored. This mixed methods study implemented a 16-week experiential learning (EL)-based SVVR intervention to examine its effects on FLCA that resides in four dimensions and on the speaking performance among Chinese EFL learners. Using a pre-post control-group design with 69 sophomores, quantitative data from Horwitz et al.'s (1986) FLCAS and speaking tests were analyzed with ANCOVA, and 12 post-intervention interviews were examined using reflexive thematic analysis. Relative to the control group, the SVVR group reported significantly lower overall FLCA, with moderate to large reductions in communication apprehension (partial η2 = 0.160) and fear of negative evaluation (partial η2 = 0.111) but no detectable changes in test anxiety (partial η2 = 0.037) or other general anxiety (partial η2 = 0.037), and achieved higher post-test speaking scores (partial η2 = 0.078). Thematic analysis identified four underlying mechanisms that helped to explain the dimension-specific FLCA levels after intervention: (1) SVVR as a psychological "safety shield", (2) displaced social judgment, (3) pedagogy-test disconnect, and (4) task-based anxiety control. Theoretically, the study demonstrates that FLCA-CA and FLCA-FNE are most responsive to EL-based SVVR and shows that this approach primarily alleviates situational, interaction-related anxiety rather than all forms of FLCA. Practically, it indicates how SVVR can be used as a supplementary tool to design low-anxiety, high-engagement speaking activities that support EFL learners' emotional regulation and oral proficiency.