Enhancing language learners’ pragmatic skills through augmented reality: the speech act of request in the spotlight

Purpose This study investigates the impact of augmented reality-based instruction on the pragmatic production of the request speech act among English as a foreign language (EFL) learners.Methodology This study involved 70 female EFL learners who were randomly assigned to three learning contexts: face-to-face, online, and augmented reality (AR). A Discourse Completion Task (DCT) was used to assess the participants’ pragmatic production before and after the instruction.Findings The findings revealed significant differences in the mean scores of the three groups for the request speech act immediate and delayed posttest scores. The AR group, which used a mobile-AR game called ‘Cosmic Frontline AR’, exhibited significant improvements in their posttest scores, indicating enhanced pragmatic skills compared to the other two groups. Moreover, the lack of significant differences between the immediate and delayed posttest scores indicated the sustained effects of the AR-based instruction on pragmatic development over time. These results provide evidence for the effectiveness of AR in fostering EFL learners’ pragmatic skills.Originality/Value In this study, the application of AR technology in language education provides an engaging and unique learning context, facilitating meaningful interactions and the practice of speech acts such as requesting. The results contribute to the existing literature on the benefits of AR in pragmatic-eliciting tasks and highlight its potential in enhancing pragmatic competence.