Exploring teacher immediacy-(non)dependency in the tutored augmented reality game-assisted flipped classrooms of English for medical purposes comprehension among the Asian students

Abstract

Recently, the new-generation-of-game-assisted practicums have been widely utilized in college language education to reduce the teacher-student psychological distance and promote teacher immediacy. In tandem with the attempt for elevating the ubiquity of teachers' tutelage, extensive instantiation of healthcare fields through the multiplayer scenes of augmented reality games has made arrangements for student engagement and helped ease the comprehension of English for Medical Purposes. Accordingly, in an English for Medical Purposes course, this interventional study, using a parallel design, endeavored to explore the dependency of applicability of the tutored augmented reality-game-assisted flipped classrooms on teacher immediacy among 240 Asian medical undergraduates. The participants' perception of the course was debriefed as well. In so doing, augmented reality games were practiced in the circles of two randomly assigned sets convened in the practicums of the flipped English for Medical Purposes comprehension classrooms under the teachers' tutelage. The formative assessments of students' comprehension in the online teaching sessions and in the fields in the quantitative phase were followed by a focus-group interview in the qualitative phase. The findings revealed that the English teachers' immediacy fostered the students' engagement and added to the applicability of the tutored augmented reality game-assisted flipped classrooms for English for Medical Purposes comprehension skills education. It was also found that students perceived their reduced psychological distance with the English teachers in favor of enlisting supports from their peers in doing English for Medical Purposes comprehension through the tutored augmented reality game-assisted flipped classrooms. The findings could provide a basis for teachers who are interested in fostering immediacy with students in the new-generation-of-game-assisted practicums for college language education.