The Influence of Learners’ Cognitive Style and Testing Environment Supported by Virtual Reality on English-Speaking Learning Achievement

Abstract

Although VR technology can provide an ideal learning and application environment for learners’ language skill acquisition, the learning performance of different types of learners in virtual environments and differences in their knowledge transfer ability from the virtual to the real environment still need further discussion. Therefore, we developed a VR English speaking training and testing system to understand the influence of cognitive style and test environment on the learners’ learning effect. The results indicated that: (1) the learning effect of the field-independent learners was lower than that of the field-dependent learners in the real testing environment, but significantly higher than that of the field-dependent learners in the virtual testing environment. Meanwhile, there was a more significant difference in the real and virtual learning effect between the field-dependent and field-independent learners; (2) there was a significant interaction between cognitive style and test environment in the learners’ learning effect. Besides, cognitive style and test environment had an influence on the spoken English learning effect based on VR. The field-independent learners were more likely to transfer what they had learned in the virtual environment to the real application.