Embodied social agency in human-robot collaboration for promoting EFL learners’ persuasive communication and bodily-emotional awareness: A functional linguistics perspective

In recent years, the interplay between human-robot interaction technology and functional linguistics has redefined the prospects of language learning.Through intuitive interfaces and human-robot interaction platforms, robot-assisted language learning synergizes embodied cognitive mechanisms with linguistic functions, offering innovative solutions to the challenges of conventional second language (L2) instruction.This study, grounded in embodied social cognitive theory, proposed a human-robot collaboration-based serious digital storytelling (HRC-SDST) learning approach.The course incorporated a robot-based visualized mirror-neuron learning system (RV-MLS), mapping socialization mechanisms onto the human-robot interaction playback theater to simulate the social-cognitive processes of language in interpersonal interactions.Using the ADDIE model of instructional design, students analyzed the problem context, designed story scripts, developed communication plans, implemented persuasive strategies, and evaluated outcomes.The RV-MLS learning interface exemplifies a novel pedagogical mechanism grounded in Perceptual Symbol Theory, facilitating the transformation of neural-perceptual inputs into structured multimodal representations within an interactive visual framework.Through three-stage embodied learning (i.e., observation, embodiment, and representation), students engaged in cognitive integration, enhanced self-awareness of both body and emotions, and enacted their L2 language ego throughout the persuasive communication process.To explore the effectiveness of this approach, the study adopted a quasi-experimental design.The participants were 74 first-year high school students in northern Taiwan.One class served as the experimental group, utilizing the HRC-SDST learning approach, while the other class was the control group, using the animation-based serious digital storytelling (animation-SDST) learning approach.The results indicated that the HRC-SDST learning approach effectively enhanced students' English persuasive speaking performance, bodily-