Effects of an article-structure strategy-based spherical video-based virtual reality approach on EFL learners’ English reading comprehension and learning conceptions

Reading comprehension is critical and challenging for the English learning process. EFL (English as Foreign Language) learners often do not understand the meaning of the text due to the lack of an authentic learning context. This easily leads learners to read literally without deeply understanding. To address this issue, an article-structure strategy-based SVVR (short for ASS-SVVR) approach was proposed in the study, in which spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) was employed to immerse EFL learners in a real environment, and the article-structure strategy was introduced as step-by-step reading scaffolding to improve reading efficiency, accuracy, and comprehension. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach, a quasi-experiment was conducted in an English reading class at a university with two classes of 63 EFL learners. Among them, 33 learners were randomly distributed to the experimental group, conducting the ASS-SVVR approach, while the remaining 30 were assigned to the control group, conducting the conventional SVVR (C-SVVR) approach. The research findings showed that EFL students conducting the ASS-SVVR approach had positive performance in reading comprehension, extrinsic learning motivation, and metacognitive awareness of reading strategy. Moreover, cognitive load and sense of presence were not shown to have a significant difference between the two groups.