EMOTIONAL ROBOT AS A COMPANION FOR STUDYING FOREIGN LANGUAGE VOCABULARY AT SCHOOL

We examine the application of personal companion robots to learning English vocabulary by schoolchildren in order to evaluate the efficiency of the learning procedure and the engagement of students. The goal of study was to evaluate if a companion robot can serve as a perspective learning tool for foreign language vocabulary. Within a five-week experiment Russian schoolchildren (N=43, average age 15,6 years) studied vocabulary of English as a foreign language, assigned to emotional robot, neutral robot or screen-based learning condition. Results, measured in a post-experimental recall test, indicated no significant difference in word learning between the three learning groups. At the same time, the students consistently rated the emotional robot as more friendly and engaging, than the neutral robot, which friendliness rating decreased over time. This confirms that the emotional robot can better maintain student interest, and this ability to sustain engagement offers potential long-term benefits, especially for less motivated students. The findings can be employed in educational technologies, as a new method for off-class self-education.