Augmented reality-enhanced language learning for children with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic literature review

Augmented reality (AR) provides numerous opportunities for digitally-aided language interventions for autistic children. Educators and researchers have reported a variety of outcomes and insights about the use of AR as an educational and pedagogical tool. The unique advantage of AR suggests that it supports attentional behaviour, fosters emotional and social skills, and improves communication abilities in children with autism. However, the efficacy of this technology for language learning in autistic children has not previously been systematically reviewed. The purpose of this review was to summarise findings on AR-enhanced language learning interventions for autistic children to help guide researchers in future studies. We conducted a systematic literature review, collecting 44 peer-reviewed studies covering different language domains. From there, further analysis identified 13 studies that focused on language acquisition and 31 that focused on language use. Our survey presents an overview of AR research for language learning in autistic children over the last 10 years, providing insights into aspects of language skills, the AR technologies used, research design and strategies, the underlying learning theories and models adopted in the studies, and whether the reported results were accompanied by some form of evaluation. Finally, this review proposes several recommendations for future research.