The aim of this study was to discover what potential benefits of Virtual Reality (VR) use students perceived in comparison to smartphone use in an English-speaking activity. Two surveys were conducted over three interventions in order to ascertain these student perceptions. Ten students enrolled in an elective English class at a Japanese university engaged in an English-speaking activity centered around the VR enabled application "Google Expeditions." Student perceptions showed that the immersive nature of VR prompted communication, invoked a higher sense of presence, and greater enjoyment in this speaking activity. However, a majority of students did not perceive a difference in the amount of English spoken when comparing VR and smartphone use. [For the complete proceedings, see ED600837.]