Augmented Reality (AR) is transforming learners’ multisensory experiences and heightening the level of engagement in multimodal learning. Scholarly attention is urgently needed to examine and conceptualise the user–app interactivity in technology-enhanced educational contexts. In this study, we applied a qualitative method known as the systemic functional–multimodal discourse analysis (SF-MDA) approach to investigate the key roles that learners are prompted to play by prescribed AR instructions. We have found four typical user roles emerging from our observations of the user-app interactivity in a 3-day workshop with six Australian primary school teachers. We have also found that when users were unfamiliar with AR instructions, they tend to resort to their prior multimodal experience with other forms of digital texts (e.g., using fingers to flip pages of e-books) to respond to the AR prompts. Furthermore, we adopted the speech function theory informed by the systemic functional linguistics to examine the educational function that these four user roles fulfil in AR-mediated learning. In our findings, we have clarified why the AR text composition is the most challenging goal to achieve to both learners and teachers in AR-mediated learning. One key pedagogical suggestion to teachers is that to design effective learning experiences, teachers need to consider the resonance between students’ AR experiences and their prior engagement with other forms of digital texts when planning for scaffolding strategies.

Authors:
Tingjia Wang, Hiroshima University, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Tingjia Wang is Assistant Professor in Hiroshima University, holding a PhD in Linguistics from The University of Sydney. Her research expertise spans over fields of Applied Linguistics, Initial Teacher Education, Multimodal Literacies and Social Semiotics.

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