SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
The Effectiveness of Virtual Reality for K-12 Foreign Language Learning: A Systematic Review of Recent Randomized Controlled Trials
Provisionally accepted
Lu Sun1,2
XiaCheng Song2*- 1Xi'an Fanyi University, Xi'an, China
- 2Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
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Abstract Lu Sun1,2, Xiacheng Song3* 1 Xi'an Fanyi University 2 Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia 3 Institute of Visual Informatics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia *Corresponding author: Xiacheng Song, Institute of Visual Informatics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor 43600, Malaysia. Email: sinksongleo@163.com Background: Despite the increasing adoption of immersive Virtual Reality (VR) in K– 12 educational settings, there is a notable absence of systematic, high-quality experimental research evaluating its efficacy in facilitating foreign language acquisition. Methods: Following a systematic search of five databases that yielded 1,054 records, six randomized controlled trials (RCTs) met the inclusion criteria. Because of considerable heterogeneity, a narrative synthesis was conducted following the Synthesis Without Meta-analysis (SWiM) guideline, with findings structured into a primary contrast (VR vs. non-VR) and a secondary analysis (VR vs. VR designs). Results: The primary contrast analysis indicated that VR interventions generally had a positive effect compared to non-VR controls, particularly for vocabulary and listening. A notable finding was a consistent positive effect for VR in promoting long-term knowledge retention. The risk of bias evaluation indicated that each of the included studies was classified as presenting "some concerns". Conclusion: Across a small and heterogeneous set of recent RCTs, immersive VR shows promising effects—especially for long-term retention. However, the evidence for immediate learning gains is inconclusive. A more critical finding is the profound heterogeneity and methodological concerns within the evidence base, which preclude any single, overarching conclusion about VR's effectiveness.
Keywords: Educational Technology, foreign language learning, K-12 Education, Systematic review, virtual reality
Received: 27 Sep 2025; Accepted: 30 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sun and Song. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: XiaCheng Song
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