Audio-visual media have long been adopted to simulate more authentic input in language assessment (Wagner, 2010). However, understanding how novel visual modalities can influence the assessment of speaking performance remains unexplored (Ockey et al., 2017). This study explores the potential of Virtual Reality (VR) to enhance the authenticity of speaking assessments. Participants engaged with three randomized visual input modalities: still image, 2D video, and spherical video-based VR (SVVR). Corpus linguistics indices and repeated-measures ANOVA were employed to analyze their speaking performance. Results will compare the speaking performance across the conditions with different visual input.

References:
Ockey, G. J., Gu, L., & Keehner, M. (2017). Web-based virtual environments for facilitating assessment of L2 oral communication ability. Language Assessment Quarterly, 14(4), 346-359.
Wagner, E. (2010). The effect of the use of video texts on ESL listening test-taker performance. Language testing, 27(4), 493-513.