Embarking on Virtual Exchange for English as a Multilingua Franca Context: Comparing Virtual Reality and Non-Virtual Reality Approaches to Enhance Second Language Speaking Fluency

Many learners of English as a foreign language struggle to develop second language speaking fluency because of limited opportunities for authentic communication with linguistically diverse English users in English as a multilingua franca context. This study aims to address this problem by investigating the effects of communication strategy instruction, an approach believed to facilitate communication in English as a multilingua franca contexts. This study compared two approaches of communication strategy instruction, explicit and implicit, combined with low-immersion virtual reality. Over 11 weeks, 159 Vietnamese undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of three instructional conditions: Explicit + virtual reality, Explicit + non-virtual reality, and virtual reality Implicit. Data sources were video recordings of pre-, post-, and delayed speaking tests, as well as learners’ reflections. The data were analyzed using the ELSA Speech Analyzer to measure second language speaking fluency and qualitative content analysis to explore learners’ perceived affordances and challenges of virtual reality implementation. Results showed that the Explicit + virtual reality group achieved the greatest gains in second language speaking fluency, whereas both virtual reality groups (explicit and implicit) outperformed the non-virtual reality group in confidence, perceived language skills, and transcultural competence. On the delayed test, although no significant difference was found between the two virtual reality groups, all three groups showed improved second language speaking fluency, with both virtual reality groups still outperforming the non-virtual reality group. The study introduces Emergent-Dialogue Virtual Exchange, a new pedagogical model grounded in unscripted, spontaneous communication via virtual reality. Emergent-Dialogue Virtual Exchange positions low-immersion virtual reality as a scalable, contextually responsive space for English as a multilingua franca communication. These findings underscore the pedagogical potential of combining communication strategy instruction with virtual reality to support fluency, adaptability, and intercultural competence in the English as a multilingua franca context, bridging the gap between the classroom and the complex realities of global English use.