Does Integrating Augmented Reality App into Task-based Reading Instruction Pay?

Considering the significant role of innovated technology in learning processes, the present study focuses on the use of Augmented Reality (AR) in students’ reading skills. Practitioners have started to use AR in different areas of language learning though a few studies examined the use of AR in reading skills. To this end, the present study explored the effect of integrated AR app into learners’ task-based reading instruction (TBRI). Using Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) diagnostic test, 30 homogeneous senior high school students were selected, randomly divided in two groups of 15 each in Hamedan, Iran. Adopting the pre-test-post-test design with a control group, all participants were given a pretest including 5 sections and 30 items. The validity of questions was confirmed by 12 TEFL specialists, and their reliability coefficient was also confirmed using Cronbach's alpha test. During an academic term-long instruction of reading, the experimental group was taught using integrated AR app, iStormAR, into task-based instruction while the control group underwent task-based instruction with no AR app. Following the treatment, both groups took a previously validated post-test including 5 sections and 30 items. After collecting the data, the results were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The findings emphasized the effectiveness of learning affordances of integrated AR app into TBRI, specifically in finding main idea questions, requiring that syllabus writers, material developers, and teachers consider the prominent potentials of AR technology for the development of students’ English language.