Contextual Voice Training for Student Teachers: Exploring the Role of Virtual Reality

Teachers are vulnerable to voice disorders, yet transferring vocal techniques from voice training to the classroom remains challenging. This study investigated the effects of voice training supported by Virtual Reality (VR) compared with voice exercises performed while imagining school environments (control group) on the vocal performance of student teachers.

Sixty-three student teachers (VR: n = 30; control: n = 33; 49 cisgender women, 14 cisgender men; all Dutch speakers; mean age 28.87 ± 10.76 years) participated in a randomized controlled trial with a pretest-posttest control group design. They completed three voice training sessions targeting warm-up, breathing, projection, resonance, and articulation. While the control group performed the vocal exercises imagining themselves in school settings, the VR group performed similar exercises while immersed in 360° school environments (a classroom, cafeteria, and playground) via VR headsets. All participants completed pre- and post-training testing, including: (1) a self-rated vocal effort score using the BORG CR10 scale after reading a long passage, (2) audio and video recordings analyzed for physical tension, voice projection, posture, and Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice parameters during spontaneous speech, and (3) acoustic measurements of vocal pitch and intensity range. Additionally, all participants completed a post-training questionnaire including general questions and group-specific questions on either imagining school environments (control) or VR realism and enjoyment (VR group).

Post-training, both groups showed similar reduced vocal effort (VR: -1.05; control: -0.83 points on the BORG CR10 scale) and increased intensity range (VR: +3.99 dB; control: +3.35 dB). The control group showed greater reductions in tension (-5.0 vs -0.83 points) and greater improvement in posture (-5.30 vs -3.17 points), which might be due to unwanted influence from the VR headset on posture. Yet, 70% of VR participants found the training enjoyable, and 76% to 80% of the VR participants found the classroom and cafeteria realistic. In contrast, 42 to 45% of controls had difficulty imagining school settings, especially without prior teaching experience.

While VR did not lead to greater short-term improvements in vocal behavior, its engaging and immersive nature may enhance motivation and encourage consistent participation in preventive voice training. Future longitudinal studies could explore whether such motivational benefits translate into practical applications in classroom settings.