Design, development and testing of BodoRao—A markerless augmented reality application for endangered language in primary education.

Background: Augmented reality can provide a 3D virtual experience, widely used in modern education. However, the impact of these applications on the underdeveloped tribal community has yet to be investigated. To our knowledge, no markerless augmented reality application has been developed especially for learning the language of the Bodo tribe. Therefore, we have developed a markerless augmented reality application—BodoRao to teach the alphabet and numerals of the Bodo tribal language. Objective: This study aims to assess the usability and efficacy of the BodoRao application. To investigate how augmented reality apps affect students' academic achievement in language acquisition. Also, assess the students' attitude towards using an augmented reality application. Method: A mixed‐method approach that combined quantitative and qualitative methods was used to gather the data. A total of 80 students drawn from two user groups: native speakers and non‐native speakers were evaluated, to determine if the BodoRao application can benefit a variety of speakers. Furthermore, from each of the user groups, experimental and control groups were formed. The experimental group used an augmented reality application to learn while the control group studied using a traditional textbook. Eight teachers were also interviewed to get their opinions on the BodoRao application. Results and Conclusion: The findings found a significant difference in the achievement test results between the experimental and control groups for both native and non‐native users. Students' positive attitudes toward the application were also observed, as represented by their high application satisfaction, low anxiety and readiness for use. Additionally, it was observed that there was a positive and significant correlation between the academic achievements and attitudes of native and non‐native students in the experimental group. Lay Description : What is already known about this topic: Augmented reality has been used for educational purposes, including language acquisition.Augmented reality applications increase learning interest, motivation and engagement among learners. What this paper adds: This study develops a markerless augmented reality application—'BodoRao' for teaching a vulnerable Bodo tribal language.This is a novel technology as it is the first augmented reality application developed for teaching the Bodo language.This application will teach the Bodo language to the tribe's younger generations, helping to preserve the language at the same time.This study has done usability testing on two user groups—native and non‐native—to ascertain whether the BodoRao application can benefit a variety of speakers. Implications for practice and/or policy: More augmented reality applications should be developed for endangered languages to safeguard and educate the next generation of speakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]