Augmented Reality for Contextual English Learning: Designing a Sasirangan-Based Learning Application for Secondary Students in South Kalimantan

Abstract

Indonesia’s English proficiency remains comparatively low, while English learning media in secondary education rarely integrate locally meaningful cultural content, immersive mobile technology, and the educational dimensions of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.7. This gap is particularly visible in South Kalimantan, where Sasirangan—a traditional hand-dyed textile carrying philosophical meaning—has rarely been incorporated into English language learning. This study employed Design-Based Research (DBR) across four phases: analysis and exploration, design, development, and reflection/evaluation. A needs-analysis questionnaire was administered to 748 Grade 12 students from six senior high schools in South Kalimantan. The design phase involved a focus group discussion with six English teachers to formulate learning objectives, task structures, and AR-supported interactions for argumentative and discussion texts. The development phase produced an Android-based augmented reality application called SasiVision integrating Sasirangan cultural content into contextual English learning. The prototype was evaluated through expert validation involving media, material, and language experts, followed by a practicality survey involving 80 student users. The expert validation score reached 85.66%, indicating that the prototype was highly valid with minor revisions. The practicality score reached 71.4%, indicating that the application was practical for classroom use with revision. The highest student responses concerned multimodal learning support and clarity of AR-based Sasirangan visualization, while the lowest scores related to installation difficulty and technical performance, indicating the importance of device compatibility and infrastructure readiness in AR-assisted learning implementation. This study contributes a validated and practical prototype for contextual English learning that integrates augmented reality, local cultural heritage, and SDG 4.7-oriented education. The findings provide pedagogical design principles and implementation considerations for culturally contextualized AR-assisted language learning in secondary education, while establishing a foundation for future effectiveness studies examining learning outcomes and critical-thinking development.