Examining the barriers shaping augmented reality adoption among English as a Foreign Language teachers: a mixed-methods study

Abstract Despite the documented benefits that Augmented Reality (AR) offers for language education, teacher adoption remains constrained by barriers that differ fundamentally in tractability. For instance, infrastructure limitations require systemic investment whereas attitudinal concerns may respond to awareness-raising and professional development. The present study examines the barrier hierarchy among Greek English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and the relationship between AR knowledge and barrier perceptions. Using a mixed-methods design, EFL teachers ( N = 266) completed a survey with subsets participating in focus groups ( n = 35) and semi-structured interviews ( n = 18). Quantitative analysis revealed that infrastructure barriers exceeded attitudinal barriers. AR knowledge was associated with lower attitudinal barriers but showed no relationship with infrastructure perceptions, indicating that awareness interventions cannot overcome material constraints. Evidence of student learning gains emerged as the strongest condition for adoption readiness, outweighing even resource provision. The qualitative data broadly converged with the barrier hierarchy but also exposed heterogeneity—including divergent stances and context-specific reasoning that the quantitative aggregate obscured. Exploratory analyses further showed that barrier profiles varied by teaching level. It is, therefore, concluded that, where infrastructure constraints dominate, awareness-raising alone may be insufficient to accelerate AR adoption and that coordinated investment across infrastructure, knowledge, and pedagogy offers a more plausible path.