The influence of immersive virtual reality technologies on the process of learning grammatical structures in teaching English as a foreign language to university students

Abstract

Effective acquisition of grammatical structures in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) remains a challenge for university students, as traditional methods often lead to a gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application. This reduces communication competence and motivation. The relevance of the research is due to the potential of immersive virtual reality (VR) technologies to create authentic, interactive environments that facilitate procedural grammar learning through experience. The aim of the work is to experimentally evaluate the effect of VR on the assimilation of complex grammatical constructions (conditional sentences, indirect speech, modal verbs) among students studying English at the B1-B2 level. The study was conducted at a technical university with the participation of 124 second-year students, divided into experimental (n=62, with VR classes) and control (n=62, traditional methods) groups. Entrance and final tests assessed grammatical competence; surveys measured motivation and confidence. The VR scenarios included 15 interactive simulations of real-world situations with Al avatars for immediate feedback. Statistical analysis (Student's t-test, ANOVA) was performed in SPSS; ethical standards were observed. The results showed the equivalence of the groups at the start (p=0.766) After 16 weeks, the experimental group demonstrated a significantly higher average score in the final test (81.47 vs. 65.18, p<0.001), especially for conditional sentences (84.22 vs. 63.08, p<0.001). Motivation and confidence also increased (6.38 vs. 4.05 in interest, p<0.001. The analysis confirms that VR enhances cognitive learning through contextualization and affective factors, reducing anxiety and increasing engagement. This helps to bridge the grammatical gap>> and is recommended for the modernization of EFL education in universities, opening up prospects for further research in linguodidactics.