{
  "abstract": "Introduction\n\nSpeaking 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\n\nA 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\n\nMIVE instruction produced significantly lower posttest speaking anxiety (F(1,123) = 42.67, p <0.001, partial η² = 0.258) and significantly higher communicative competence (F(1,123) = 36.84, p <0.001, partial η² = 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\n\nBy 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.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "School of Information Science and Engineering, Shandong Institute of Petroleum and Chemical Technology, Dongying, 257061, People's Republic of China.",
    "School of Marxism, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249, People's Republic of China."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Weizhen Gao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Chengzhang Zou",
      "orcid": "0009-0002-2415-6125"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ep2rg27697csy.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.2147/prbm.s632160",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13716709",
  "id": "ep2rg27697csy",
  "issns": [
    "1179-1578"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42959228",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Original Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1203|EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223298907",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13716709?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13716709",
  "pmid": "42959228",
  "published": "2026-10-23",
  "publisher": "Dove Press",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ep2rg27697csy.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:21:46Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42959228",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42959228"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-01T12:23:55Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13716709",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.2147/prbm.s632160"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [],
  "title": "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.",
  "title_text": "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.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-02T12:21:09Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ep2rg27697csy",
  "venue": "Psychology research and behavior management",
  "versions": []
}