The impact of an augmented reality application on EFL learners’ oral proficiency

ABSTRACT

Purpose

This study investigated the effects of an AR application (Civilisations AR) on EFL learners' oral proficiency in the dimensions of content, fluency, vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar, as well as their attitudes and perceptions toward AR technology.

Design

Utilizing a quasi-experiment, twenty-four EFL learners engaged in a role-playing activity as museum guides for six artifacts over a semester: twelve with the AR application and twelve without. Data collection included oral presentations recorded at six different times of the semester, the AR technology acceptance questionnaire, participants' reflection papers, and individual interviews at the end of the semester.

Findings

Participants' oral proficiency has been improved in terms of content, vocabulary, and pronunciation when using the AR application compared to when not using it. They felt that the AR-assisted method encouraged active learning and stimulated their learning interest, and they were willing to incorporate the AR tool into their future education.

Originality and Value

This study indicates that AR has the potential to enhance speaking skills in second language acquisition though it still needs improvement to meet more needs.

KEYWORDS:

• Augmented Reality (AR)
• EFL learners
• oral proficiency
• perceptions
• learning interest

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data and the teaching materials are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Eleventh China Foreign Language Education Fund [第十一批中国外语教育基金项目] under Grant Number ZGWYJYJJ11A133; Project of Humanities and Social Sciences of Henan Province [河南省哲学社会科学规划项目] under Grant Number 2023CYY037; Humanities and Social Sciences Research Program of the Education Department of Henan Province [河南省高校人文社会科学研究一般项目] under Grant Number 2023-ZZJH-376; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [中国博士后科学基金面上资助] under Grant Number 2023M733249 and Zhengzhou University [郑州大学教学改革研究项目] under Grant Number 2022ZZUJG117.

Notes on contributors

Yizhen Wang

Dr. Yizhen Wang is a lecturer at the School of International Studies, Zhengzhou University. Her research focuses on language learning and psycholinguistics.