Robot as a Facilitator in Language Conversation Class

Abstract

With concern of robotics application in educational field, robot assisted language learning (RALL) has become of interest to second language learning researchers. This study aims to examine the effect of RALL compared to existing computer assisted language learning (CALL) on students' affective states and engagement towards English conversation class. For the field study, non-equivalent-groups quasi-experiment was employed with 66 Korean middle school students between CALL class and RALL class. The result revealed that there was marginally significant difference in the motivation; there was significant difference both in the participation and in the satisfaction between implementing robot and using computer in English conversation class. This result corresponds both with previous theoretical studies in SLA and with empirical studies in HRI. This study suggests that robot acts as a facilitator in language conversation class.