Development of 360-degree Immersive Virtual Reality Training System for English Public Speaking

Abstract

This research aims at developing a virtual reality training system of English public speaking for Japanese EFL learners. Occasions for delivering speeches in English are increasing in this globalizing society. However, public speaking is known as one of major examples of social phobia, and there has not been sufficient evidence-based material for teaching and learning English public speaking. This study approaches the issue by developing a virtual reality training system for English public speaking. The system is designed with results from multimodal corpus-based data analysis of effective public speaking performances in terms of eye contact, speech rate, and speaker's nervousness. It offers 360-degree immersive virtual venue and virtual audience for learners in order to feel as if they are in authentic public speaking environment. A monitor test was performed with 36 Japanese EFL learners to investigate usability and potential effect of the system. From the result, it was found that the virtual reality material received positive evaluations for causing sense of realism and mitigating nervousness from participants.